TFP White Energon IV : Wishes Granted, Hopes Broke Away
by AriaChronos
Summary: The Autobots struggled on their feet after the base destruction. The Saint decided to make her move for upcoming crisis. Soon, Helios will discover more facts of his red part, while Aria will learn that broken promise and trust can come from wishing too sweet. Rated T to be safe because I tried to be bolder. I only own my OCs, not TFP
1. Darkmount NV

**Hey guys, long time no see. How do you do? **

**It's AriaChronos again**

**I'm so happy to be back. I already waited for this moment for so long. My gears are high and I promise you there'll be good stuffs on my story. **

**I'm not too good at chatter, so please just enjoy the story not the summary. **

* * *

_"To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering"_

* * *

"Augh..." Helios groaned as he regained consciousness.

As he stood up, he got himself inside his own station. Helios remembered retreating back there when he was cornered by Decepticon drones. As he tried to stand up, he got very nasty ache from his back. His back was smoking. The brunette boy discovered that the one of the drone's blast hit him at the back. His burnt human skin was exposed through the melted black rubber suit.

"The damage just got worse..." he muttered. Even if his station was equipped with standard medical kit, there was no way he could reach his back on his own. Helios knew he would need assistance, but his injury wasn't the top priority. He decided to let his own body to recover all by itself. As White Cybertronian, he could heal fast.

Helios dragged himself to the comm unit, trying to contact Autobot base. But then he remembered about Nemesis blasting the base into ruin.

* * *

True, Helios wouldn't be able to contact anywhere, as the place itself was ablaze and filled with Decepticons. The drones and Insecticons were searching for the Autobots corpses from under the rubble.

"Leave no stones unturned!" Megatron commanded as he observed the excavation process.

"Master," Starscream called as he approached the Dark Lord, "Look what we found, from the wreckage of his ship, Wheeljack."

They brought Wheeljack, who was gravely injured. He was groaning in pain as the drones dragged him on his knees.

"So, one survived. Take our guest back to the citadel for questioning," Megatron immediately ordered, "Back to Darkmount..." he referred to his newly constructed big fortress.

"This is the dawn of new age, my liege! The reign of Megatron!" Starscream proclaimed.

"You do have a way with words, Starscream," Megatron complimented, "Make haste! And unnearth the Autobot corpses!"

The workers worked faster in digging and moving rubbles. But they still didn't acknowledge the presence of Optimus, whose hand sticking out of the rubble. And Aria, who was inside Optimus' right hand, and just regained consciousness.

* * *

"Agh..." Aria groaned as she stirred up.

But the ponytail couldn't move her body. Aria found herself being clutched by something, Optimus' hand, that was. She then remembered about the base being attacked. The Autobots with the humans escaped separately. She and Smokescreen were departing through the GroundBridge, per instruction of Optimus, despite Aria's protest. Aria remembered about returning back to base. And the explosion happened, then everything went black.

The girl remembered that Optimus lunged toward her a second before the blast. Aria shifted herself, peered through her father's metal fingers. Then, she gasped in horror.

"No..." through the fingers, she could see her father's face, and he was in bad shape.

Aria tried to free herself from Optimus' clutch, but the hand gripped tightly. She felt her body aching as she moved, but strangely she couldn't feel her right arm. She force-opened the fingers with her left arm without breaking them, not wanting to add further damage. As Aria finally broke free, she finally saw why she couldn't feel her right arm.

Her right hand was ripped from elbow below, dangling from the upper arm by cables. White Energon dripped from severed veins. She already lost vast amount of Energon, because there was large puddle of White Energon on the ground bellow. But, she couldn't comprehend it to Optimus' condition. She gasped in horror at how badly injured her father was.

His entire frame was burnt. Wires and circuits were exposed through the opened injury. And Optimus' optics were flickering dimly, indicating that he was still alive. It was considered a miracle, since he managed to survive the explosion at genocide level.

"FATHER!" Aria cried out as she climbed Optimus' chassis. Being half machine, the severed arm didn't bother her too much. As she crawled to Optimus' face, she tried to look for any sign of life.

"Aria..." Optimus murmured weakly.

"Father...thank goodness..." Aria whispered in relief.

"Why...?" the Prime choked out.

"I...I'm sorry, I didn't follow your order..." the girl apologized with cracked voice, "But, I just couldn't do it! I couldn't leave you, I just couldn't! So...I ditched Smokescreen's seat, and ran back here..." she paused, "I don't care if we're being chased by Unicron or Megatron. I couldn't leave you...!" she sulked up a little while before realizing, "Wait, I'm gonna pull you out...!"

As she looked back, she gasped to find Smokescreen phased through the rocks. Smokescreen gave the sign for Aria to be quiet, then proceeded to pull both her and Optimus to underground.

* * *

Meanwhile, the excavation Vehicons brought the things they dug out from the rubbles; Airachnid's stasis pod and The Forge of Solus Prime. They presented it to Megatron.

"The Forge of Solus Prime?!" Megatron roared in disbelief, "How is it that you managed to materialize that?! Yet not the remains of a single Autobot?!"

"Answer your Lord and Master! WHERE ARE THEIR BODIES?!" Starscream added as well.

* * *

Smokescreen pulled Optimus and Aria on his shoulder to underground cave, and rested the Prime on the rocks. Aria climbed down from Smokescreen's shoulder, and rested beside her father.

"Are you hurt? But you probably look much worse than you feel..." Smokescreen lamented at the condition, "Though Aria, your condition is like...too much worse..."

"You mean...this...?" Aria pointed to her dangling right hand, "This is nothing. Father is much worse than I am..."

Optimus was breathing harshly, and speaking was proven to be too much.

"No, don't move or talk! Just...power down, get your strength back. I got you covered," Smokescreen promised, "Aria you too, get some rest for yourself."

Too weak to move, Aria just rested her head on Optimus' hand. She knew she wasn't at condition to heal Optimus. She glanced at her severed arm, then sighed heavily.

* * *

"The Autobots clearly GroundBridged from the base before it was destroyed. They could be anywhere," Megatron concluded as he and Starscream walked away from the site.

"We must initiate global surveillance, my Lord. Send search and destroy team to every sector of this planet," Starscream promised.

"Soundwave, monitor all of base transmissions for any sign of Autobot communication. With each other or with their human counterpart," Megatron contacted back to their base.

Megatron knew very well that the Autobots relied on the humans to compensate their small number. And as small as they might be, humans were proven to be quite a challenge for Decepticon alone. Not to mention, they were quite senselessly and stupidly, too brave for the small account.

"Lord Megatron," one drone called to them, carrying a tube filled with White Energon, "We found this White Energon beneath the wreckage."

"Still fresh..." Megatron commented as he observed the liquid, "That girl was clearly there a moment ago...HOW IS IT THAT YOU MANAGED TO MISS HER?!" the warlord scolded his soldier.

"Master..." Starscream called.

Megatron saw to the direction Starscream pointed. The human military already made their move, by sending large forces of tanks, helicopters, and any other armed vehicles.

"Foolish human," Starscream mocked, "I shall deploy the armada."

"That wouldn't be necessary, Starscream," Megatron cut in, "Now that we can engage our enemy...with newfound might."

The big citadel wasn't all alone. On top of the tower, was installed four big fusion cannons. And as the humans got closer, one of the cannons cocked down toward their position. Megatron grinned, knowing just how far that thing could damage. The cannon formed a big green energy ball. As it was fired, all the military vehicles were scrambled from the ground. First, they were pulled by some sort of magnetic field, then...

_KABOOOOMMMM_

The soldiers weren't the only ones got annihilated. Jasper, miles away from the location, was wiped out clean. In only one blast, the town was turned into smoking war zone. Everything was destroyed, and the town turned into ghost town in mere seconds. Thankfully, the townspeople weren't there. But, it was only a proof how easy for the Decepticons to wipe entire human race in single blast.

The Decepticons clearly didn't play around with their threat. The humans just learnt it hard way.

"A new power dominates your world," Megatron, sitting on his throne, was talking to Agent Fowler via phone, "Any further attempts to attack will be met with even greater false! Your leader should be advised, that my fusion cannons possess enough firepower to decimate any densely populated area of my choosing.

* * *

_"I would most likely to set sight on your nation's capital, for starter."_

"Point taken, now what do you want from us?" Fowler asked.

"_Nothing, Agent Fowler. The Decepticons mean no harm to humanity. _We merely desire place to call home," Megaton answered as if it was it.

"_No offense, Megatron, but I'm having tough time swallowing all of these. _Since you seem so be on to plaster humankind on molten steel!_"_ Fowler argued.

"_Agent Fowler, _I admit that the war brings out the worst in me. But the conflict with the Autobots now over, and our quarrel has never been with your kind. Now that the one true enemy of the Decepticons is no more, my only wish is to coexist on this planet with the human race, _peacefully_."

* * *

"_Together Agent Fowler, I believe that you and I can make that dream a reality."_

TUUT...

Fowler clearly didn't buy all of that.

* * *

And Starscream already knew that Megatron didn't mean all of his words earlier. Deception, as usual. As the link was disconnected, Megatron stood up from his throne.

"You too have a way with words, Master," Starscream said as he clapped his hands, "I almost believed you myself."

Megatron merely cackled as he stared to faraway land from the tower, "Earth is our planet now, Starscream. And we shall finish what we started. Humankind has no idea what lies ahead for them..." he finally revealed his true mind.


	2. Survival and Next Move

**Aw man, my niece played with my computer when I was in toilet, and she accidentally deleted this story. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.**

* * *

_"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies"_

* * *

The situation just went from bad to worse. The humans were completely at mercy of Decepticons. With the death threat, the military was at loss what to do. Fowler was currently speaking with his superior through phone.

"Yes, General Bryce. Special containment protocol G-1000 has been executed as planned. Evacuation of Jasper, Nevada was 100% successful. As far as its civilians and the media are concerned, the threat was a meteor shower and the town is under quarantine until the resulting radiation levels can be dissipated," Fowler explained, "Sir, any form of retaliation would be too risky. I just need more time! …Yes, I understand."

Fowler put the phone back, and sat on the chair. He held his head, thinking hard on how to manage all of his superior pressure and Megatron's demand. That was when June, who worked at the military base as nurse, came in with files on her hands.

"Agent Fowler, those medical supplies still haven't arrived," June informed him, "We have wounded men who need-."

"Doing the best I can, Nurse Darby!" the frustrated Fowler snapped, "Been a little busy juggling a bunch of nuke-happy generals who don't seem to care if they blow Nevada sky high and a Decepticon warlord who wants to make nice now that the Autobots are in the scrapyard! Megatron's opinion, not mine! He's feeding me a load of horse puckey! Trying to crush our spirits!"

"Still no word… from anyone?" June asked nervously.

Fowler went silent as he knew what June was thinking. He too, was deeply worried about the kids and the other Autobots after the base destruction. They currently had no way of knowing if they were still alive or not. Especially June, whose son was in the base at that time.

"Listen. No contact only tells me that the main commlink went down when the base was pounded into pancake batter," Fowler informed.

"But if I could just call Jack…" June began as she stepped forward.

"You know it's too risky. So do the bots," Fowler objected, "The 'Cons can trace any cell phone signal."

"Then take me home," June requested, "If Jack can't call, that's where he'll look for me."

"Jasper's under 'Con lockdown. Nobody's getting back in there," Fowler firmly stated, and looked out of the window, "The only ones who can fix this mess are Prime and his bots. I'm sure they're out there keeping a low profile. They got to be."

Elsewhere, the search team of Decepticons were already deployed to find any sign of Autobot. One drone flied above the sky and carefully scanning each vehicles that passed by the road.

"Scanning…"

He first scanned a bulky car, a peterbilt semi, and a muscle car that was too similar to Bumblebee but in reversed color of black-yellow instead of yellow-black.

"Negative, no Autobot recognition," and the drone flew away from the area.

The said black and yellow car pulled over the road and took cover under the tree. Raf emerged from the car to observe the sky.

"Clear," Raf gave the sign.

With the approval, Bumblebee transformed into robot mode and looked up to the sky.

_I thought he got me. That was so close,_ Bumblebee said.

"Too close. But your paintjob did the trick," Raf said as he packed his book into his backpack.

Bumblebee then tried to contact any other Autobots, but got no response.

"The comm's uplink is still down," Raf said, "Bee, I realize that Optimus sent us to all different locations to make us harder for the Cons to find. But if we don't know where in the world everyone else went, how are we gonna find them?"

_Heading to the common ground, Jasper, I think. We should keep going,_ Bee replied.

"Right, just keep heading toward Jasper…" Raf nodded, because that was the only thing they could come up. "Toward Megatron's giant fortress…"

* * *

Bulkhead and Miko were also on the way, in middle of nowhere. Bulkhead was rather antsy while Miko looked bit laid back. The pigtail girl looked out of the window, and she was bored to death.

"I never knew there were so many rockies," Miko sighed.

Too bored, she decided to take her cell phone and typing. That action caused Bulkhead to pull the brake harshly.

"MIKO!" Bulkhead roared, "No cell phone! You know the rules!"

"Dude, I wasn't calling anyone! Just playing a video game I already downloaded!" Miko, rather annoyed, pointed her cell phone to prove it.

"Sorry, I guess I'm a little on edge," Bulkhead apologized then drove away, slowly.

"Where are we headed anyway, Bulk? You got some sort of plan?" Miko wanted to know.

"We're following standard Wrecker protocol," Bulkhead answered.

"Which is…?" Miko asked further.

"An emergency plan we followed during the war in case any Wrecker got stranded or separated from the unit. We'd always rendezvous with the exact same coordinates. If Jackie's still alive, he'll be there," Bulkhead explained.

And so, the duo continued their journey. It was still too early to put on high hopes, but they knew they couldn't give up yet.

* * *

But what Bulkhead didn't know, Wheeljack was captured and being tortured by Starscream for information. He already got so many interrogation method from the air Commander, but he was harder than steel.

"Don't stop now. I was just beginning to enjoy myself," Wheeljack smirked even though the interrogation already went for long.

"Believe me, Wheeljack. There is more where that came from. And you will tell me the location of your compatriots!" Starscream still pushed on by adding more scars to Wheeljack's chassis by a metal claw, "No matter what it takes or how long."

"Like I told you, they weren't expecting me. They never bothered to fill me in. Though, that sunny boy who flew with me might know something. Oh right, he escaped from you, didn't he?"

"While unfortunate for you, you weren't swift enough to escape," Starscream mocked.

"What I'm trying to say, is it really hard for you Decepticons to catch a little astray from your ranks?" Wheeljack mocked back. "Well, go ahead. Knock yourself out."

Wheeljack would prove that he wouldn't give in. Not for his pride as top Wrecker.

* * *

Megatron called for Knock Out in his throne room.

"How may I serve you, Lord Megatron?" Knock Out asked as he bowed down.

"Assemble a team and disembark for Cybertron immediately," Megatron instructed, "While hunting Autobots remains paramount, we must not squander any opportunity to recover any Autobot relics left behind in the chaos. For all we know, Optimus Prime is out there somewhere planning to do the same."

* * *

Smokescreen was still guarding while Optimus and Aria rested. But Aria was restless, she only got few minutes of nap. She glanced at her severed arm. The White Energon had stopped dripping, but there was nothing she could do to the hanging elbow part. She was surprised with the voice of Optimus' labored breathing.

"It's OK, Optimus. You're with us, Smokescreen...and Aria," Smokescreen reassured him.

"How did… I get here?" Optimus asked weakly.

"When we were driving away from the base, just as the 'Cons opened fire, it was our turn to GroundBridge away."

"Actually, it was my fault in first place. That was when I jumped out Smokescreen's seat and rushed back. But, I remembered telling you to run away," Aria glanced to the soldier.

"I couldn't do it. I didn't want to leave you two to face Megatron's army alone. So I snuck back. But that was when the blast hit and the whole joint came tumbling down. I was rather surprised that Aria was still up and around, while you weren't. I managed to pull you from the wreckage before the 'Cons dove in with the phase shifter, which I managed to snag during all the confusion back on Cybertron," Smokescreen explained, "Um, we're sorry we defied your orders."

"No, it was me who broke the protocol first," Aria said, "But, I would do it again and again."

"We're safe here," Smokescreen reassured the two, "But we're down so deep, no one can pick up our signals. I'll have to scout above ground if we're gonna have any hope of finding Ratchet."

"No..." Optimus refused, "No hope..."

"What do you mean, father?!" Aria objected.

"Aria has her arm chopped off and runs out of White Energon, so the doc's the only one who can patch you up!" Smokescreen objected.

"He's right, father," Aria added.

But Optimus merely replied with heavy breathing. It was so painful for Aria to see her beloved father like that.

"Smoke, do me a favor. Take me back to the surface," the girl said as she spun around, "I think I dropped Helios' GroundBridge remote back then."

"You mean..." Smokescreen realized.

"If I have it, I can get Helios here to heal my father without alarming the Cons," Aria added, indicating that she hasn't lose hope yet.

"Smart! But, you're not in condition to walk far. I'll get abroad to look for the thing," Smokescreen replied.

"But, that remote is human-sized, so it can only be used by me. Are you sure you can find such small thing?" the girl objected.

"Just leave it to me. If we're in luck, I might find some first aid kit to patch your arm up. Wait here, I'll be back soon," Smokescreen said as he phased away through the rocks.

Aria just sighed, as she turned around to face Optimus. Optimus had his eyes half opened, looking straight to his daughter's eyes. Only with that, Aria knew of what Optimus would say.

"I might be your daughter, but that has nothing to do with my faith. I'm not going to give up on hopes, yet," Aria said.

Optimus appeared to fall back into power down. Then, his chassis opened to reveal his Heart flying off and floated in front of Aria. Then, a spirit of the First White Parthonus materialized in front of Aria. The deceased Saint paid her incarnation a visit.

"What do you want?" Aria replied coldly, "I'm sorry, milady. But as you might know, this is not the right time for chat."

"_I know, the situation on your side has tensed up. I knew that from now on you will be having hard time in condition like this. Which is why, I came here with a news for you,"_ The Saint began.

"I hope it's good one," Aria said.

"_That is for you to decide. The time almost comes."_

Even though the sentence wasn't complete, Aria widened her eyes in disbelief.

"_You and the 3rd are bound to my soul. You must have known, of what I will do if the moment is right."_

"Yeah..." Aria looked away, not sure if she had to smile or frown, "Will it be sooner or later?"

"_Sooner. Protect the Prime and keep the rest of your beloved ones alive just long enough for them to know. That I am still alive and can fight even if my world and your world are far apart,"_ Parthonus then faded away, with her last words, "_It will be soon, fourth."_

"Thank you so much, lady. But please keep your showoff to the limit," Aria merely said with heavy sigh.

* * *

**Now, are you curious of what will happen? I am so curious of what you'll say in the review box.**


	3. Tactical Improvement

"_There are two ways to live; you can live as if nothing is a miracle, or as if everything is a miracle"_

* * *

Everybody was in heated battle, Helios was no exception. Although he was in the safety of his station, the boy didn't just sit back. After repairing as much as of himself, he began to repair his GroundBridge. The previous blast didn't only strike his back, but also fried some of the Bridge's circuit.

In middle of work, Helios was visited by the Saint, through the Heart of Solus Prime. He received pretty much the same message as Aria.

_The time __almost comes_

The message that the Holy Saint was about to make her move very soon. Helios, being bound to Parthonus' soul, could know of what she was about to do even if she didn't tell him anything. It was a good sign, but it didn't really make him happy.

"That's very good news, lady," Helios replied to the spirit, "I just want to say something. Please limit your showoff, or else."

"_I've heard enough from the Fourth,"_ said Parthonus before she disappeared. For the first time, Helios heard the Holy Saint spoke in joking manner.

"Really, please limit it. Indeed you're not in the living anymore..." Helios sighed as he continued working, "We don't want you to drag us into the same trouble..."

* * *

Meanwhile on somewhere else, Jack and Arcee pulled over the road and stopped at abandoned town. Jack was more than nervous when he thought back at the situation.

"What if Jasper wasn't evacuated in time?" Jack asked as he pulled off his helmet, "She could have been hurt! Or taken by the 'Cons!"

"Jack..." Arcee began.

"And even if she did get out, she's gotta be worried out of her mind not knowing where I am!" Jack continued.

"Jack! Calm down," Arcee transformed to calm down her charge, "We'll get back to Jasper, find to reach your mother...and the rest of the team."

Not for long, they heard a rumble of helicopter flying far away, above the dark cloud. Arcee knew they had to anticipate for everything, and she didn't want to take a chance. She had to check it out to make sure everything was fine.

"Wait here. Could be a 'Con on our tail," Arcee told the boy before transforming and took off.

Jack watched as Arcee drove away. And then he pulled out his phone, looking at the photo of his mother. He really wanted to know if she was alright, and told her that he was okay. But, the risk was just too high.

"Sorry, mom. I'd call if I could," Jack sighed, then he decided to just try, "One text couldn't hurt, could it?"

And so, he broke the rule of 'no cell phone', and texted June.

* * *

Because of that, the signal was detected on the Decepticon radars, and the computer immediately traced to who it was. Starscream was in watch duty, and he grinned as he got the jackpot.

"Master!" Starscream called over the commlink.

Megatron immediately knew what it was about.

"Send in the troops!" Megatron ordered as he rose from his throne, "And Soundwave, I want a live feed."

Megatron transformed to jet and flew to the Nemesis, where Soundwave was. He really had to be witness of it, of the termination. Soundwave, receiving the cue, dispatched Laserbeak for visual on the spot.

* * *

June was in middle of packing her medical supplies in the storage room. That was when her phone beeped, revealing a text message from earlier.

"Jack!" June gasped in relief and read the text, "With Arcee. Safe. Love you."

She couldn't hide her joy. At last she knew that her son was alright with Arcee. It was only a small sign, but a glimmer of hope was all they needed in middle of crisis.

"Agent Fowler! Jack's alive!"

* * *

After receiving confirmation of the sent message, Jack folded his phone. But his relief didn't last long, because a second later a purple planes was heading to his direction. Jack knew immediately he was screwed.

"Scrap," Jack cursed.

That was when Jack swore not to break rules ever again. That, if he could survive oncoming attack.

Arcee, with her holographic driver still pursued the helicopter. She transformed, hid behind a large rock, and pointed her blaster. That was when she noticed that the helicopter was just normal helicopter.

"Civilian," Arcee sighed in relief.

Then she heard gunfires and explosions from behind. She looked back to find a shower of red blaster...on the spot where she dropped Jack earlier.

"JACK!" Arcee cried in shock.

She transformed and rushed back in lightning speed.

* * *

Jack ran with survival instinct as he dodged the shower of blasters from the sky. The drone wasn't alone, he brought reinforcement.

"I am so toast!" Jack grunted as he ran again.

He climbed over a fence, trying desperately to search for cover. As he dashed for his life, the drones shot down several relay towers, knocking them toward Jack's head. Fortunately enough, the boy managed to avoid the tower before it crushed him. He took cover behind a building, but then, he spotted Laserbeak on the way.

The bird drone caught visual of the boy, and sent the footage to the Nemesis. Now, Jack had nowhere to run.

"Smile, Jack. You're on Decepticon TV," Jack said sarcastically.

* * *

_"_Master, we have a visual_," _Starscream reported. Starscream, Megatron and Soundwave were watching the footage.

* * *

Jack was on the run again, but with Laserbeak, he couldn't escape. He ducked underneath a truck. But, the drones didn't make too much effort on blasting the truck away. Jack was again in opening, the drones didn't stop their firings. But just as the things were going to worse, Arcee came to safe the day.

The blue femme came in right time, scooping Jack out of harm's way, and returned fire.

* * *

Megatron was proven to be the impatient one. One Autobot and one human were surprisingly resilient enough to hold on that long.

"How long does it take to exterminate one lonely Autobot and her human pet?!" Megatron demanded impatiently.

"Well, in my experience..." Starscream began answering.

"NOT. A RIDDLE, STARSCREAM!" Megatron snapped.

"Sorry," Starscream apologized sheepishly.

* * *

Arcee began thinking for another plan. As she looked around, she spotted a gas station. A strategy formed on her head.

"Over there!" Arcee shouted.

Jack took the cue and jumped onto the motorcycle immediately. Arcee and Jack drove to the gas station. As expected, the drones quickly followed them. Laserbeak still flew on their tail.

"Not the best cover," Jack remarked.

"We're not here to hide," Arcee smirked.

As expected, the drones transformed and landed in front of the gas station. They spotted Jack with two fuel hoses on his hands.

"Hey, guys! Unleaded or diesel?!" Jack asked.

The drones looked down to see big amount of fuel already on their feet. Jack dropped the hoses and ran as fast as he could to a van. The drones was about to open fire, but Arcee was faster. With one blue shot, Arcee blew up the gas station together with the drones and Laserbeak. Arcee and Jack ducked as low as they could as the explosion shook the entire area.

Because of that, the footage from Laserbeak died down on Nemesis.

"Let's roll before they send reinforcements," Arcee suggested and transformed immediately.

Jack knew that they had to get away as soon as possible.

* * *

On Cybertron, Knock Out was doing his duty of salvaging Cybertronian relics left behind from the explosion. He had teams of Vehicons and Insecticons to scourge the ruins.

"Come on, fellas! Put your backs into it!" Knock Out urged, just before the Vehicons found something, "The Apex Armor. Our illustrious leader will be pleased. Now any sign of that phase shifter? I really liked that thing."

"Sir!" one of the Vehicons shouted.

Knock Out immediately looked up, and for the first time ever, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"By the AllSpark!"

* * *

On Nemesis, Soundwave tried to repair the damaged Laserbeak. As soon as he located the damages, he sent out his tentacles and began working.

"Well, did any of the surveillance data survive?!" Megatron asked impatiently.

Soundwave was...well, silent.

"A shame," Starscream sighed, "We might have at least learned the direction Arcee and the human fled."

"Clearly, we need to improve our methods of hunting Autobots and build upon the tactical advantage we managed to secure," Megatron commented.

And then Knock Out called in.

"_Lord Megatron, I am ready to return to Darkmount. And I'm certain you'll want to see what I've uncovered._"

"Soundwave, open a Space Bridge portal," Megatron ordered.

Soundwave stopped working on Laserbeak, and did what his master said. The green portal opened, and then Knock Out walked from it.

"I find myself in urgent need of good news. So please, Knock Out. Tell me that you've found something useful," Megatron requested.

"Some_things_, my liege, and some_one_," Knock Out added.

Knock Out stepped aside, thumps inside the portal indicating another person was coming. As it became clearer, Megatron and Starscream couldn't believe it.

"He...lives?!" Starscream gasped in disbelief.

They knew that Decepticon anywhere, as he was unlike others. But they really didn't expect to see him again.

"Shockwave," Megatron called, "Just the tactical advantage we need."

Megatron was amused, but Starscream was somehow nervous.

* * *

Aria was still with Optimus in the underground cave. Smokescreen were still away. Aria sat beside Optimus, still monitoring his condition. He was still breathing heavily, but Aria hoped it didn't quit soon. She swirled the Heart by her left hand.

"Father..." Aria called.

Optimus half-opened his eyes, indicating he was awake. He tilted his head slightly to look at his daughter.

"Please, don't give up," Aria spoke in soft manner, "Because The Saint hasn't given up yet."

"The...Saint..." Optimus whispered out.

"Yes, you have to know that she will make another move. It can be our tactical improvement under this extreme," Aria explained, "...Or, the otherwise. Anyway I just received a message from her. She didn't tell me the detail, but I know one thing for sure. _The Fifth_ is on the way."

* * *

**Hehehe, review please**


	4. Scattered by The Fifth

**This is the long one. I hope you don't get bored in middle of story, enjoy and review in the end.**

* * *

_"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear"_

* * *

"Lord Megatron," Shockwave said as he bowed to his master.

"Shockwave! This is quite an unexpected turn," Megatron commented, "I thought you perished on Cybertron...!" he said as he glared at Starscream, who previously reported Shockwave's death.

"Y-y-yes, as...as did we all..." Starscream nervously answered as he stepped back.

"Reports of my demise were greatly...premature," Shockwave responded, and he began to flashback, "A pair of Autobots infiltrated my facility on Cybertron, sabotaging my Space Bridge. I gave chase, but failed to accurately calculated the outcome. I woke in the rubble, blinded. It soon became clear that I was marooned on our dead planet with no means of communication. In time, I repaired my wounds, and resumed my experiments. The solitude enabled me to make tremendous advances in my research. Until one day, my instrument detected a surge of unidentified energy. I travelled to investigate its origin at the edge of Sea of Rust. Where I encountered myself with the salvage team and the smoldering wreckage of the Omega Lock. But this was not the search party I had anticipated so long. Leaving one unanswered question..."

Shockwave turned to face Starscream, "Why was I left for scrap?" then he walked closer to the scared Starscream, "Abandoned, _why?"_

Starscream would be lying if he said he didn't fear Shockwave. Lacking face, just like Soundwave, he could be one hell devil equal to Unicron. Not to mention, Shockwave was more aggressive than Soundwave.

"T-t-the explosion...it...it collapsed the power core chamber..." Starscream stuttered, "The last thing anyone witnessed was you charging into the Space Bridge portal. No one saw you come back out!"

Shockwave eyed the 2nd in Command for a while, "I find your reply to be...logical."

With that, Starscream breathed a sigh of relief. He was spared from becoming science project, it seemed.

"But you will be pleased to know that I have avenged your...seemingly demise, by personally terminating the Autobot Cliffjumper..." Starscream gloated again with a little chuckle. Although, that failed to amuse Shockwave in any way.

"Careful Starscream, you may dislocated a landing gear patting yourself on the back," Knock Out warned.

"As Megatron's 1st Lieutenant, allow me to welcome you back to the winning team," Starscream added as they walked toward the exit of the lab.

"And allow me to verify the new chain of command," Megatron cut in, "While Starscream would retain authority over military operations, Shockwave would be my 2st Lieutenant in charge of all scientific endeavors."

Starscream chuckled nervously, "So you are saying that we shall each report to you?"

"Affirmative," replied Megatron before he exited the lab with Knock Out and Shockwave.

Starscream remained behind to sulk over the moment. He slapped his thigh out and grunted heavily. "Completely...logical my liege." He wasn't all that happy with the current situation. Because his rival came back.

* * *

Jack and Arcee already travelled so far from the previous location. They were driving in middle of deserted farmland.

"Hey you hungry?" Arcee asked, "There's a town up ahead."

"I'd better not. I'm running low on cash," Jack replied.

"Need it to buy gasoline," Arcee commented, as she turned to a farmyard, "I'm pulling over anyway, need to stretch my legs."

That being said, they stopped. As Jack got off, Arcee transformed and began to do upper body stretches. It always felt good to get out of car to stretch after long journey. But Jack began to lament on the situation again.

"Arcee, Team Prime is scattered to the winds," Jack began as he stared to the sky, "For all we know, you and I can be the only ones left."

"I don't believe that, Jack," Arcee said as she put her hand on Jack's shoulder, "And I know you don't either."

"Maybe not. But the Decepticons outnumber us one hundred to one. Aren't there anymore Autobots out there who can help?" Jack asked.

"The war of Cybertron took a heavy toll," Arcee sighed,"But there were others who escaped to the Ark."

"So...where are they?" Jack asked again.

"Scattered to the winds," Arcee spread some dust to the winds to prove her point.

The situation didn't look good for the Autobots. But Arcee knew it was far too soon to give up. They needed to keep moving forward.

"So let's focus on getting back to Jasper. And getting Team Prime back on together," Arcee suggested.

* * *

Arcee and Jack weren't the only ones who tried to get back together. Raf and Bumblebee were in middle of searching their comrades as well. Currently they were driving on the road.

_So do you find anything useful on the web?_ asked Bumblebee.

"Not one Bee, just the same old rubber masks in bad C.G. But the usual conspiracy websites may be the only chance to..." Raf stopped as he struck on a finding, "Wow! I find something! It's Ratchet."

Although blurred out, the photo clearly showed Ratchet, in middle of car junkyard.

* * *

In Darkmount, Shockwave was getting Megatron's full attention, much to Starscream's annoyance.

"White Energon..." Shockwave commented as he held the tiny tube of the liquid.

"Created by White Cybertronians, the rarest of the race on our planet," Megatron said. "The sample you have on your hand was gathered from certain Autobot White."

"Though, it may be from our White of kind," Knock Out said, "I collected quite a sample from him back then, for some studying."

"I have read it back on Cybertron from old historical documents, those legends which I found hardly logical," Shockwave said, "However, the solid proof in our hands can only mean the legend is true."

"Indeed Shockwave," Megatron replied.

Starscream grunted in secret, "Shockwave's studying is so transparent," he grunted as he chose to search on human's web network for any clue, "Megatron's respect is earned by deed, not words."

He browsed through the conspiracy website, where previously he found Red Energon with. "Useless, useless, useless...billions of cameras on my hands of those miserable humans, one of them is bound to catch an Autobot eventually..." he chanted as he scrolled through all the photos with low C.G, and then he struck the photo of Ratchet, "Well, well, well, what have we here?" he mused, then called, "Lord Megatron, I have found something of great interest!"

* * *

"The photo was taken yesterday, in the junkyard outside of Woodland Park," Raf said, then proceeded to do his usual work, "I'd better scrub Ratchet...and replaced him with..."

* * *

"An Autobot!" Starscream said as he stepped aside to present the image of...tap dancing monkey.

"Ha _ha!" _Knock Out laughed, then went silent as Megatron glared at him.

"Wait...WHAT?!" Starscream cried in shock. "It was just here! Surely one of you saw it!"

"Starscream, you would do well to take a cue from Soundwave on occasion, and keep things for yourself!" Megatron scolded a little.

"Vow of silence...such a copout," Starscream commented, before deleting the noisy monkey from the screen.

"Lord Megatron, surely our Autobot prisoner is better source of information than this...primitive data net," Shockwave suggested.

"I'll have you know, Shockwave," Starscream cut in, "That I have been grinding Wheeljack down for days. If he knew anything, he would have spilled it by now."

"Again, some prove to be better holding their tongues than others," Megatron said. (They have tongue? Seriously?)

"Perhaps we would have better results if instead of club, use a scalpel," Shockwave added, "I recommend the Cortical Psychic Patch."

* * *

Bulkhead and Miko were already in the Wrecker meeting spot, and they have been waiting for quite a while. But Wheeljack hadn't shown up.

"I don't think he's coming," Miko said.

"Don't worry, Miko," Bulkhead replied, "Every Wrecker knows the protocol. Jackie will show...if he's still kicking."

* * *

But, Wheeljack was prepared for certain science project. He was already strapped on berth, for the patch.

"Do your worst, doc," he said. "I'm a Wrecker. I can take it."

Shockwave took the cable, and slowly approached Wheeljack, "Trust me. In fact, you will not."

But then...

"The patch failed to yield any new information on the whereabouts of the Autobots," Shockwave reported to the throne room.

"I see," Megatron replied from his throne.

"Then it would seem that Wheeljack has outlived his usefulness. With your permission, I will see to his immediate termination," Starscream smirked.

So with that being said, Wheeljack was bound by cuffs, and taken to the smelting pit.

"Wake up, Wrecker," one Vehicon woke him up, "Time to smelt."

"Commander Starscream wanted you conscious so you know precisely you order your execution," another Vehicon said.

"Where is Screamy? Don't have the bearings to do this himself? " Wheeljack asked back.

But the Vehicon merely pushed him to the edge of the platform. He stared down to the lava pit, he knew that thing so well. Many Autobots already fell victim to it on Cybertron.

"Jump!" the Vehicon urged.

"Hey, you flier?" Wheeljack asked.

The Vehicon was confused, but the next thing he knew, Wheeljack kicked him. Then, the Wrecker grabbed him and tossed him to the lava pit. The other Vehicons prepared to open fire.

"Okay, I'll jump," Wheeljack said as he finally jumped.

As expected, the falling Vehicon transformed to jet before he splashed to the lava. Wheeljack took the opportunity to grab the drone and flew away.

"Thought so," Wheeljack said, "YEE HAH!" he cried as he took rodeo ride.

Wheeljack flew out of Darkmount. The other Vehicons immediately transformed and gave chase. Wheeljack bashed his cuffs against his pilot while being fired upon. He looked forward, and decided to call it quit.

"Thanks for the ride," Wheeljack said as he jumped, letting the Vehicon to fly straight to a pillar, and crashed.

He then jumped on top of another flier. Another Vehicon fired him from the front, and Wheeljack used it to destroy his bonds. Being freed, he returned fire. He managed to destroy the drone by running straight into him. Wheeljack then tilted the jet to shield him from another blasters, and took down another one. The jet lowered down to the land. Wheeljack let him crash-landed, and after reaching the ground, he transformed while the Vehicon just exploded away from the crash.

A score for Wrecker.

* * *

"This is how you handle things?!" Megatron scolded his 2nd in Command.

"Wheeljack is not the first prisoner to escape from Starscream's care," Shockwave noted.

"Actually master, I allowed Wheeljack to escape," Starscream replied.

"You WHAT?!" Megatron roared as he stood up from his throne.

"But the Autobot's every move, his every word will be monitored," the Seeker added with smirk. "Thanks to a simple tracking device implanted while the prisoner was still unconscious following the _failed_ Cortical Psychic Patch," he gave a mocking look to Shockwave, "Now all we have to do is to wait, watch, and listen. When the Wrecker reunites with the other Autobots, my armada will strike."

* * *

It was night time, Raf and Bumblebee arrived at the junkyard where Ratchet was spotted.

"He's gotta to be here," Raf said as he looked around.

And yes, Ratchet was there. As Bumblebee stopped suddenly because he spotted the familiar ambulance sitting in front of him. Raf got out of the car and ran to the medic.

"Ratchet! It's me Raf!" Raf called out.

But Ratchet didn't answer.

"Ratchet?"

"Go away!" Ratchet snarled.

_Go away? Why?_ Bumblebee asked as he crouched down.

"You're interrupting my power down," the medic added.

_Something is wrong_ Bumblebee said to Raf.

"Come on Ratchet. We need your help to find the others!" Raf urged.

_That's right! We will find the others and fight back!_ Bumblebee added.

"We can't stop Megatron. Not anymore," Ratchet replied grimly, "The war is over. And we lost!'

"You're giving up?! We can't just give up!" the boy argued.

Ratchet finally transformed and faced Raf, "Then tell me what we can do! Without communications, without GroundBridge, without resources of any kind!?"

_Starscream was like that back then, and he can manage it_ Bumblebee said.

"Bee's right! We know Starscream had access to GroundBridge while he was operating solo," Raf said.

"Yes, yes, he clearly had been using the derailed Decepticon the Harbinger. What does that have to do with anything?" Ratchet asked back.

"It could be full of Cybertronian tech! And it's probably abandoned again now that Starscream's back with the Cons," Raf explained.

"Pfft, well. Resources won't be much use. Not without someone to...lead us," Ratchet said with frustrated tone.

"It's a start!" Raf argued again.

"Then you'll have to start, without me. This is someone else's find now," Ratchet said.

"There is no one else, Ratchet! Just us. Just...the team!" Raf still pushed on.

But Ratchet still didn't budge. "Just please..." he said as he transformed back to ambulance, "Just let me...rust in peace."

Ratchet was a stubborn old bot. Raf decided to give it up, and just left. "Come on, Bee," he said.

Bumblebee transformed and Raf got in. Then, they left the junkyard, and Ratchet. Even if Ratchet had given up, the duo still hadn't.

* * *

Back in underground cave, Aria was still watching Optimus. She had fought the sleepiness for quite some time, and tried her best to stay awake, even though she was really tired. She had administered little amount of her White Energon just to keep Optimus alive. She couldn't transfer large amount in her injured state. Every second she spent on hearing Optimus' breathing, just torn her spark apart every minutes.

Then, Smokescreen was back.

"I'm back," he said with gloomy face

"I combed every square micron of our old base. But I couldn't find Ratchet's medical kit, not even a bandage..."

"That Ratchet never left any medical kit behind, he always had it with him..." Aria lamented.

"The...Forge...of Solus Prime..." Optimus whispered weakly.

"It's gone too. The Cons picked the place clean. I couldn't find Aria's remote control either," Smokescreen replied.

Aria frowned, if it wasn't there, meaning she dropped it somewhere else. But such small thing could easily be crushed under the explosion and tons of rubbles. The chance to call Helios just slipped away.

"Wait, if you have the Forge you can fix yourself up! Power of Primes!" Smokescreen said, "Optimus, hang on just a little longer. That hammer's gotta be somewhere on Megatron's fortress."

"Smoke wait," Aria stopped him from walking away, "This time, take me with you."

"But, you know you're injured," Smokescreen protested.

"I'm fine! I'm a White so I can handle this!" Aria objected further.

"But even so, this time I'm heading to the enemy's castle. There's no telling whatever might be waiting there," Smokescreen crouched down to face the little girl, "If anything happens to you, your father will never forgive me. Myself included."

"I know that, and I can take care of myself," Aria sighed, then she glanced at Optimus a bit, "I know, I should be at his side at this kind of time but...more time I spend here, the more it hurts me..."

Smokescreen knew what she meant. Optimus was in critical condition, even hearing his breathing was just painful.

"I can't just sit around and wait for him to die," Aria said with firm tone, "Please Smokescreen. You will know how much it hurts if you're in my position."

The Elite Guard was at loss to do. Optimus previously told him to take care his daughter in his absence. If anything happened to Aria, Smokescreen would be in scrapyard. But, he knew of what the girl had to go through. So, he finally offered his hand for Aria to hop on. He placed her on his shoulder.

"Just, promise me you will stick with me all the times," Smokescreen warned.

"Thanks, Smoke. We will back soon, father..." Aria said to her father as they phased through the rocks.

* * *

At the Wrecker meeting spot, Wheeljack hadn't shown up. Miko had fallen asleep while Bulkhead was still on guard. Then soon after, Bulkhead a car engine approaching, so he stood up immediately.

"Miko, wake up!" he said.

Miko yawned and stretched before asking, "Why?"

Bulkhead then deployed his weapons, "Someone's coming."

The car engine sound came even closer, Bulkhead was prepared to shoot if it was an enemy. But as it became clearer, Bulkhead folded back his weapons.

"I know that hum of engine anywhere," he said.

Yes, that was Wheeljack. He came to the meeting point as expected. He transformed, and was greeted by his bulky partner by a big hug.

"Ha ha, Jackie!" Bulkhead laughed as he hugged him, "Where you had been, buddy?!"

"Fastening up with few ol' dance partners..." Wheeljack said in pain from the tight squeeze. Miko snapped a photo of him afterward.

"Good to see you kid," Wheeljack said to Miko, "Safe to assume we're the only three Wreckers around."

"So what are we waiting for? Let's do some damage!" Miko said eagerly.

* * *

On Nemesis, the tracker implanted by Starscream already transmitted Wheeljack's conversation to the Decepticons.

"_So what's our next move, Jackie? Circle back to base?_" Bulkhead asked.

"_There is no base. Cons blasted it to dust,"_ Wheeljack replied.

"They did with the plane ride to my hands..." Starscream cackled as he thought his plan was a success. "All Seekers to the flight deck! We have pinpointed the enemy!"

And then, a group of 5 Seekers flew off the Nemesis to the coordinates. On the screen, the five Seekers were approaching fast to the target.

"Attack, my armada!" Starscream ordered.

* * *

The Seekers arrived in middle of forest, at a side of river. They transformed and landed. They deployed their weapons immediately.

"We're at the coordinates, Commander Starscream," one Seeker reported.

* * *

"Hold fast!" Starscream ordered as he still monitored the screen. The tracker signal came even closer, "They are approaching your position.

* * *

The Seekers heard something coming, and pointed their blasters to the river. There was a log floating and being carried by the water flow. Seeing it was merely a log, the drones lowered their weapons. But they didn't know that Bulkhead, Wheeljack, and Miko were watching from atop of cliff.

"Target's in range..." Bulkhead pointed out.

Wheeljack was prepared to press on his trigger.

* * *

The floating log came even closer, and the Seekers were curious to check for it. As they finally noticed it, the tracker was on the log, with a grenade.

* * *

"And, boom," Wheeljack smirked as he pressed his trigger.

* * *

"GRENADE!" one Seeker cried out.

But it was too late. Wheeljack and the others watched as one big blue fireball consumed the entire area. Obviously, all the drones were scrapped.

* * *

Starscream saw as the radar on his screen was interrupted by the shock blast. He cried in shock as it happened, then it dawned on him.

"He...tricked us..." Starscream lamented.

He looked back to see Megatron glared angrily at him.

* * *

"How did you know the Cons planted a tracker on you?" Miko asked to Wheeljack.

"I figured the Cons were up to something. Did a little poking around on my hood," Wheeljack said.

Bulkhead cackled in amusement, "That's my Jackie!"

"So, what's our next move?" Miko asked in excitement.

"I salvaged some ammunition from Jackhammer on my way out," Wheeljack said as he transformed to car, "You thought that made a loud noise? Just with."

Miko was excited as Bulkhead transformed as well. She hopped aboard, and they followed Wheeljack.

* * *

Raf and Bumblebee already arrived at the Harbinger, and Raf started to try operating the GroundBridge there. Bumblebee connected the Energon fuel line, and made a OK sign to the boy.

"Hold it right there Bee," Raf said as he pressed some buttons on the keyboard and screen. "And, powering up."

He learnt to do that kind of stuff from Ratchet. But still, Decepticon technology was far complicated than that. He tried to power up, but the system merely shorted out suddenly. Bumblebee was rather disappointed, but Raf wasn't going to give up.

"Keep trying, we'll figure it out," Raf said.

"Yep yep yep," the two were shocked to hear that voice, "You're miscalibrating the Energon transfuser." Ratchet said as he walked in.

"Ratchet!" Raf called out in joy.

"Now step out of my way, so I can work," Ratchet said with his normal tone.

Raf stepped out of the keyboard, and smiled to Ratchet. Ratchet returned with his own smile. At last, the Autobot medic got his spirit back up, much to Raf's joy.

* * *

Arcee and Jack were still rolling on the road. Jack was feeling more uneasy as the time passed.

"The last time things looked this bleak Optimus slipped me that key card. Something we can hang our hopes on," Jack said.

"I know you're feeling helpless, Jack," Arcee said, "This doesn't need to be your burden."

Then, a giant plane swooshed above their head. It was clear that it wasn't Earth-based vehicle, even Jack shouted out his amazement. As Arcee halted into stop, the ship landed few meters before them. Jack got off Arcee and looked at the ship in amazement. The hatch of the ship opened, indicating someone was coming.

"Stay behind me," Arcee said as she stepped forward.

The smoke covered the figure walking down of the hatch. Arcee pointed her blasters and got ready. But as the smoke cleared, Arcee widened her eyes in surprise.

"Jack, I don't think we're gonna need that key card..." she said as she lowered his weapon.

Jack finally saw who was it. It was a bot around the size of Optimus. He had blue-colored armor, with very high shoulder patch.

"Meet Ultra Magnus," Arcee introduced.

* * *

"You not only failed to destroy the Autobot, but you allowed their number to increase!" aboard the Nemesis, Megatron was scolding Starscream. "IS THERE NO ONE WHO CAN BRING ME THEIR HEADS?!"

"If I may, Lord Megatron," Shockwave stepped forward. "During my exile on Cybertron, I resumed working on dormant project. One that I believe may provide solution to our current problem," he presented an image of CNA strand on the monitor.

"Cyber-nuclead acid?" Knock Out asked.

"The building blocks of all Cybertronian's life. This hails from the specimen from the specimen I excavated upon our planet," Shockwave revealed. "And has yielded promising result."

"The Autobots continue to evade us. What makes you think we can afford to wait for the answer to our prayers to be...birthed in some petri dish?" Starscream asked.

"You misunderstand. The subjects have been fully cultivated. And only needed to be transported from my laboratory on Cybertron," the one eye scientist added, making Starscream looked at him in shock.

"Then by all means, activate the Space Bridge!" Megatron ordered.

* * *

Shockwave was back on Cybertron, in his laboratory soon after. He looked at his recent science project. Two creatures looked like a dragon were inside tubes, filled with yellow liquid. Shockwave went to the computer and activated the system. The power cables electrocuted the tubes with yellow electricity.

Shockwave continued to operate the machine, and the two dragons slowly opened their eyes. Two pairs of yellow eyes.

"What is this?" Shockwave questioned as he looked at his monitor. Then, he jumped a little in shock, "Impossible..."

* * *

Megatron was back on Darkmount, tapping his fingers against the throne impatiently. Not soon after, the Space Bridge portal opened in front of him. Shockwave stepped out of the portal.

"I apologized for the delay. There is a little glitch back then. But now, I present to you, my liege," Shockwave bowed down, "The ultimate Autobot hunters."

The entire throne room were shocked by a gigantic claw stepped out of the portal. Starscream even quivered in fear, as two dragon creatures entered the place. Even Megatron was so shocked by what Shockwave had done. A mighty roar shook the entire tower. All Decepticons present nearly torn out their optics when they saw the two creatures.

The first dragon was the bigger one. It had yellow eyes and yellow spots all over its body. Its wings were so wide, and it was colored mainly in orange.

The second dragon was rather smaller, but still gigantic. It had yellow eyes and yellow spots. But, contrary to the first one, the second one was colored in blue and black. The most striking characteristics of it were its bigger right claw, and a black cross on its chest. Its wings were also black.

"The...Predacons...?" Starscream stuttered in fear. "T-they had been extinct since the beginning of Cybertronian history..."

"Indeed. But the specimens you see before you were bred in laboratory. Cloned from fossilized remains I discovered on Cybertron," Shockwave said as he touched his creation.

"Shockwave, it does my spark good to see once again tampering with creation..." Megatron said as he walked down the throne to greet the Predacons.

"Master, please keep your distance," Starscream warned.

"No need for alarm. The beasts are completely under my control..." Shockwave said.

But, as soon as Megatron came closer, the blue-black Predacon was so shocked to see him, and immediately charged forward. It suddenly roared angrily in front of Megatron. The behavior surprised everyone, included Shockwave and the other Predacon.

"Like I told you, keep your..." Starscream started.

Suddenly the Predacon charged forward. Megatron was surprised to see its optics glowed white for a while before returning to yellow. It attempted to tackle Megatron, confusing Shockwave even further. The Predacons were supposed to be tamed. But this one suddenly went berserk.

"Stand down!" Shockwave attempted to stop the smaller one.

But the blue one merely pushed Shockwave away. Finally, it jumped toward Megatron. Instinctively Megatron defended himself with his hands, and got knocked back.

"Protect Lord Megatron!" Starscream ordered.

All Vehicons immediately opened fire, and the Predacon did what they less expected. It formed a white force field to shield from the blast. Shockwave was clearly shocked by that.

"Force...field?" Starscream quivered in shock.

"It looks like Shockwave is not the only one who tampered with creation..." Megatron said, as the Predacon still glared at him angrily.

The behavior toward Megatron, who had Dark Energon inside him, and the force field ability made it clear. Furthermore, Megatron could feel the Dark Energon inside him reacted to the Predacon.

The blue Predacon...was a White.

* * *

**Why have only one beast, when you can have two? Hehehe, enter, my another OC. Want to know more? Just wait for the next. Review please. **


	5. Revelation

_"Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret"_

* * *

"Force field?!" Starscream cried in disbelief.

The throne room was silent, as Megatron and the black-crossed Predacon were still in Mexican standoff, glaring at each other. The Predacon kept growling and hissing at the Decepticon warlord, typical behavior of disobedient pet. Because it already smelled the Dark Energon scent from Megatron. The Vehicons already stopped firing because it was impossible to penetrate White Cybertronian's force field.

"I thought that ability only belongs to Whites...which means..." Knock Out trailed off. "We have a White Predacon?! By the Allspark...!"

If you added a mighty gigantic beast with a White Energon of super power source, the result would be a mighty gigantic beast with twice of gigantic firepower, obviously.

The blue attempted to attack Megatron again, only to be stopped by the bigger one. Both Predacons exchanged roars and growls for a while, until the boss ended the argument by single warning roar. The blue one then went silent, it seemed to be more submissive toward his fellow Predacon. And so, the White Predacon decided to plug his roar down his throat. As finally the White dragon was under control, Megatron began to question.

"Shockwave..." Megatron asked.

"Is this really the result of your...super great advanced research?!" Starscream barked, "Didn't you realize that you brought an assassin for our Lord Megatron?!"

"My deepest apologies, master," Shockwave said as he bowed. "This is something that went out of my expectation. This specimen was supposed to be normal...until a moment ago when I activated them to send them here. It was something that I could not come with explanation with..."

"Why am I not surprised?" Megatron replied casually, "This is clearly something that cannot be done by anyone else, except one. The Saint. It really does my spark no good to know that she ever attempted something this far..."

As far as Megatron knew, the Holy Saint only bothered to do business related with Unicron. He never expected for her to meddle in middle of Autobot-Decepticon war. Creating Autobot and Decepticon Whites was understandably enough. She created Aria and Helios to counterattack Unicron's awakening before, even though Helios was put in inactive state for long time. But this time she created another incarnation from Shockwave's specimen.

"If it inconveniences you, my liege, I shall contain this one for..." Shockwave began.

"No," Megatron cut in, "Both of them will remain here. Such primal magnificences..."

With Megatron's approval, both Predacons would be used. Shockwave then immediately put them to good use.

"A sample of Energon from Wheeljack, spilled during the Autobot's failed interrogation," Shockwave then presented the small tube of blue Energon to the bigger Predacon. It scanned the liquid with his optics. "And this is the sample of White Energon," the one eyed scientist also presented the White Energon to the White one, who also scanned it.

"Hold on, what makes you think that this rebel is willing to hunt for its...fellow White?" Starscream objected.

"Because I told it to do so," Shockwave said, "Even though this one is against Lord Megatron, it is still under my control."

"Besides, we've seen enough that Whites can fight against each other," Knock Out said.

"Indeed Knock Out. Well then, let the hunt begin," Megatron ordered.

With that being said, both Predacons flapped their wings, and then flew off the fortress to pursue their preys. Both of the dragons flew to different direction.

* * *

Meanwhile, Wheeljack, Bulkhead and Miko were in Decepticon Energon mine. Wheeljack proposed his idea of blowing that mine sky high with his ammunition.

"Guys, you know I'm all on blowing scrap out of stuff," Miko said, "But what does flattening Decepticon mine have to do with getting the band together and taking down Megatron?"

"Simple. Only light up this place, the blast will be big, and unmistakable..." Wheeljack started.

"Any Autobot within 500 clicks see the sky glows with Energon will come running," Bulkhead finished.

"Then bring the rain," smirked Miko.

* * *

In Harbinger, Ratchet and Raf were working hard. Getting the system online was easy with Ratchet's expertise, but they had another problem afterward.

"Mainframe's up and running. But I'll need help hacking the operating codes," Raf said.

"Even if the GroundBridge proves functional, it will be next to worthless without a means of pinpointing the current locations of our compatriots," Ratchet noted.

_Even the Cons?_ Bumblebee asked.

"Use your head, Bumblebee," Ratchet replied, "If the Decepticons had the ability to track Autobot signals, we'd been all in Megatron's mercy here on long time ago."

Raf sighed in disappointment, "Back where we started."

"But not if I can reconfigure these Decepticons frequencies," Ratchet came up. "At the very least, we may be able to access their commlink."

* * *

"No one had seen or heard from you since Cybertron went dark," Arcee said, "How did you find your way to Earth?"

"Soldier, we may not be on Cybertron. But military protocol remains," Ultra Magnus reminded.

That caused Arcee to straighten up, "My apologies, sir."

"Sir?" Jack asked.

"Advise the native life form to watch his tone as well," Ultra Magnus told.

"What? Who is this guy?" Jack asked in annoyance.

"Ultra Magnus was Optimus' key lieutenant during the war back on Cybertron," the femme whispered, "Very by the book. Just go with it."

"As for your broader question, my story is that all Autobots since the exodus, I wanted the space ways in search of others," Ultra Magnus explained, "Reuniting with some, often only to see them fall at the hands of the Decepticons."

"Until you detected the Omega Beam, and followed it here," Arcee summed up.

"If you're referring to massive energy burst originating from Cybertron, that would be affirmative," replied Magnus, "Upon my arrival it became evident that this planet had been invaded. My scans also detected Autobot life signals. Yours being in close proximity to my position."

"Signals, as in plural?" Jack asked, earned a glare from the Commander, "Sir."

"Five total," replied Magnus.

"Out of seven..." Jack sighed.

"Jack, that doesn't necessarily what you're thinking," Arcee reassured, "Autobot's signals can't be detected when they're shielded."

* * *

Being shielded, like Smokescreen, Optimus, and Aria who were underground. Smokescreen and Aria emerged from the cave, and they were going to look for the Forge of Solus Prime.

"Clear," Aria said as she looked around.

"Cozy little place should build for yourself, Megatron," Smokescreen commented on the big Darkmount fortress.

"Yeah, finding the Forge in there may take a while," Aria added.

"Then again, maybe he still keeps his valuables in usual place," Smokescreen pointed to the Nemesis which was stationed at the edge of the fortress.

"Won't hurt to try, right?" Aria shrugged.

So, both of them snuck into the fortress. Smokescreen barely avoided all attention by phasing walls, and made his way to the warship.

"We won't let you down, Optimus," Smokescreen vowed as he entered the warship.

"We can't," Aria added.

"I'm sorry, overreacting?!"

Starscream's voice made both of the Autobots jumped. Smokescreen looked around and finally decided to hide on one side of wall as Starscream and Knock Out approached.

"Easy for you to say, Knock Out," Starscream said, "Nobody here wants your post. I, on the other hand hold the most coveted position within the Decepticon ranks. And no matter what he may claim, I know that Shockwave's plotting to desert me. Did you see the smug look on his eye when he..."

Smokescreen and Aria placed their audio at the wall, listening to the conversation and making sure both of the Decepticons were away.

"Shockwave?" Aria murmured, "I think I've heard that name from Ratchet before..."

Smokescreen didn't listen to the girl, merely stepped back. He phased through some kind of case, and ended up in somewhere red. As both of them turned around, they were greeted by Airachnid's face. Smokescreen cried out and jumped out of the stasis pod. Because of his sudden movement, Aria tumbled to the floor as well.

"Oopsy, sorry," Smokescreen apologized as he stood up.

"It's only Airachnid in stasis..." Aria said as she tried to regain her composure.

"Oh, right..." Smokescreen hauled Aria back to his shoulder, then walked to Airachnid's pod, "You don't scare me, ugly."

"So, she survived the blast, huh?" the ponytail commented, "Miss Arcee will be happy. Hey Smoke, look!"

Aria pointed to what they've been searching, the Forge. Smokescreen walked to the Forge's case, "Hello beautiful."

"You have good eyes, Smokescreen," Aria commented with a grin. "This thing is rather heavy, need a hand?"

"Nah, I'll be good," Smokescreen said.

The Elite Guard freed the hammer from the storage, and heavily dragged it out of the Nemesis. But just as Smokescreen was walking out of the Nemesis on the tower's spire, they heard a roar from far away. Both of them looked up to see the blue Predacon was flying toward them.

"What's that?!" Aria cried out.

"I think I've seen that creature from the Hall of Record, it's a Predacon!" Smokescreen replied. "And it's supposed to be extinct...WHOA!"

The Predacon suddenly breathed out a giant white fireball toward them. Smokescreen jumped to the other side to avoid it. The Predacon then swiftly flew above their heads and circled the sky for a moment.

"I have never seen a white flame before..." Smokescreen commented.

"It's also my first time seeing White Predacon," Aria added.

"White? That lizard isn't white," Smokescreen asked.

"Not in color, Smoke," Aria corrected.

"You mean..." Smokescreen trailed as he got it, "That Predacon...is a White Cybertronian?!"

"The Fifth, to be exact," confirmed the girl.

The blue Predacon, or the Fifth, immediately flew and attempted to slam both of the Autobots. Smokescreen activated his Phase Shifter again, and the Fifth just passed through them. But it quickly employed new tactic. The Fifth charged again, with force field activated. And voila, it managed to slam them even with Phase Shifter activated. Quickly, it flung Aria, the primary target, to the wall. Whites were forbidden to hurt Primes, but they were capable of fighting each other if necessary.

"ARIA!" Smokescreen cried out.

The ponytail immediately stood up and tried to transform. However, her hanging arm interrupted her transformation. And, the Predacon was already in front of her face. Smokescreen once again charged to save the girl, however, he merely bumped into force field the Fifth created.

"What's this? I can't get through!" Smokescreen asked in confusion.

"It seems like even the Phase Shifter can't go through anything..." Aria noted, then she faced the Fifth, "Smoke, take the Forge and run!"

"No! You already promised to stick with me all the times!" Smokescreen protested.

"Change of mind. I've told you this guy is a White! It's after me!" Aria urged, "What's more, if we spend too much time here, the Cons' reinforcement may arrive in matter of seconds, and by that time we'll be screwed for sure!"

"I'll be screwed by Optimus if I return without you!" Smokescreen objected again.

"I'll be fine! Just, give my father that hammer!" Aria urged again, "I'll catch up with you after I finish! Just, run!"

Smokescreen knew he had little choice, "Make sure you'll remain here, 'cause I'm gonna come back and look for you, little princess!" with that, the Elite Guard ran back to the Forge, dragged it, and disappeared through the wall of the fortress.

* * *

Smokescreen got away just in time, because a second later, the footage of the event came into the fortress surveillance camera. Starscream, Knock Out, and Shockwave were watching it.

"Geez, we've been searching that girl for hours, only to find her hanging around our home?" Knock Out commented.

* * *

Aria once again dodged another slam from the Fifth, and decided enough was enough. First, she pinned her loosen arm with her foot, then with her blade, she cut off the last connection between the two arm parts. Aria tossed the right arm away, and finally be able to transform. But, the Predacon was still too gigantic for her.

"So rude for a new guy, aren't you?" Aria mocked.

The Fifth once again fired another white flame, which the girl barely escaped. The Fifth initially didn't understand why he had to terminate Aria, because it smelled the White Energon scent from the girl. The Predacon knew Aria was fellow White, which was why it held its attacks back. However, it was under the strictest of order from its superior.

Aria knew she needed bigger firepower than just build-in blaster. So, she took out Heart of Prima, to take out new weapon. It was the weapon she and Helios tried to keep secret before. The sea-green femme materialized out another weapon, in the form of golden shield. As soon as it fitted itself in Aria's left hand, the two flaps sprung up, forming a bow.

"Meet my Fortress Unit 2. Time for beta test," she aimed the bow to the Predacon, and fired it. The bow shield fired out a big white laser which scored a direct hit to the Fifth.

The firepower was so big, it even managed to slam the Fifth into the Darkmount wall.

"Wow!" Aria exclaimed in amazement.

But the White Predacon recovered quickly. It attempted to charge at Aria one more time. Aria then fired another round to it, but it dodged by flew to the sky. The laser blast destroyed the small portion of the fortress instead. The Fifth then performed sky drop at very high speed. So fast that Aria didn't have a chance to react. The Fifth crashed into her so hard that the platform collapsed. Aria was avoided being pancaked because she shielded herself with the shield. The Fifth grabbed into the golden shield and swung the girl mid-air like a rag doll.

After a final swing, the gold shield was taken off Aria's hand, and the girl once again slammed into outer Darkmount. She still hung into the crack on the wall, and appeared to be half-conscious. The Fifth attempted to fire another fireball once again...

Were it not Helios who flew from his GroundBridge and slammed forcefully into the Predacon's face.

* * *

"Gah! That traitor ruined the good show!" Starscream snarled in frustration.

"But perhaps this time we can swat two flies in one hit, don't you think?" Knock Out noted, then he noticed that Shockwave was acting weird, "Doc?"

Indeed, Shockwave was looked very...shocked at the screen, after Helios entered the scene. Even if he didn't have face, they could tell that he was very startled.

"Is something wrong, Shockwave?" Starscream questioned.

"That boy," Shockwave pointed.

"You mean Helios?" Knock Out asked. "A traitor from our rank, you see. What's wrong with him?"

"Helios...?" Shockwave spun suddenly to face Knock Out. Shock and confusion were apparent in his tone.

* * *

After slamming the Fifth away, Helios hauled Aria up and flew to the sky. Nevertheless, the Predacon quickly followed them.

"Helios? What are you doing here?" Aria asked.

"What else? Going into the field to see if I can get something useful for us to get out of this trouble. Didn't expect to find you here...and that one," Helios glanced back to the Predacon, "Is that...?"

"Yep, it's our guy...WATCH OUT!" Aria cried out.

The Fifth fired a big fireball, but Helios managed to dodge it.

"I've told Parthonus to keep her showoff to the limit, and apparently she didn't listen to me," Helios commented.

"And I thought that the Fifth may be our tactical improvement to fight Megatron!" Aria cried in desperation.

"Well, she sent us a beast this time, that's improvement, right?" the vermillion boy commented sarcastically, before dodging another fireball. "That aside, what happened to your arm?"

"I...lost it," Aria replied shortly.

"Can you transform? We can't run forever," Helios asked again.

"Yeah, I think so," replied the girl.

Helios let go of Aria so both of them could transform back to human. Helios then opened his GroundBridge, and the two teens plunged into the portal, escaping the wrath of the White Predacon. Frustrated that its prey escaped, the Fifth flew back to Darkmount. It landed on a spire where the Fortress shield laid. It picked the shield up, and flew back to the castle.

* * *

Helios and Aria tumbled into Helios' lab after rolling into the GroundBridge at high speed. Helios looked up to see his GroundBridge had trouble again.

"Great, it shorted out again," sighed the boy, "Aria, you okay...?"

He turned around only to see Aria already passed out on the floor from her injury and exhaustion.

* * *

Back on Darkmount, Knock Out already finished telling Shockwave about Helios' tale.

"And now he's running with the Autobots," Knock Out finished, "Do you know something about this Helios, by the way?"

Shockwave didn't reply, merely walked away.

The Fifth already arrived at the throne room, with Aria's golden shield on its mouth. Shockwave, Starscream and Knock Out arrived afterward.

"Such a shame those miserable and cocky brats got away..." Starscream lamented.

"On the bright side, we managed to secure one of The Saint's weapon," Megatron noted, "We absolutely cannot allow this to be at the Whites' hands."

Upon Shockwave's order, the Fifth let go of the shield to Shockwave's hand. It still kept distance from Megatron, to prevent it from charging suddenly.

"Lord Megatron," Shockwave walked toward the throne, "I realized that keeping track of traitors and the dead ones are never in your journal. But I need to know why you never told me that Helios was on this planet?"

That question caused Starscream and Knock Out to look at Shockwave with weird look.

"Because you never asked," Megatron merely replied, "Besides, he was already dead. Helios that we have here is not the same Helios anymore."

"...Logical enough, my liege..." Shockwave replied, with sadness on his words.

"Pardon me, Shockwave," Starscream finally asked, "What connection do you have with Helios? You don't seem to be the one who has many connections, anyway."

Shockwave stayed silent, he was confused whether to tell his secret or not. Megatron, on the other hand, had another mind.

"Shockwave, you do realize that we need to unite all of our efforts in order to win this war. Previously I agreed to keep your secret in stash, but now, I do not see the need," Megatron spoke, "So, I find it best if you just spill it out. You know it would not do any harm, do you not?"

"Indeed, my liege," Shockwave nodded.

"Oh please, you're killing me!" Starscream cried, "Spit it out already!"

"Knock Out," Megatron called, "Did you remember when I told you that Helios was someone's son?"

"Oh yes, clearly. You said something that Helios' creator was someone you really trusted back on Cybertron and..." Knock Out recalled.

"That person now, is standing before your very eyes," Megatron said.

Starscream and Knock Out first exchanged confused look, then to Shockwave, then to each other again. Soon, it all caught up to them, and they widened their eyes in shock.

"Is...that true?" Knock Out asked carefully to Shockwave.

"...Affirmative," Shockwave merely nodded.

"Indeed, Knock Out," Megatron finished, "Helios, the dead one, was Shockwave's son."

"YOUR SON?!" Starscream cried in utter shock.

"Then...then...who was your mate?" Knock Out asked.

Shockwave merely looked away, to lament for himself. His silence confirmed Starscream's and Knock Out's thought. They never expected it. Surprised, yes they were surprised. But Starscream was more than surprised. After knowing that fact, dread filled his spark. Now, the 2nd in Command had another reason to fear Shockwave. If only Shockwave knew about _that_.

* * *

Fun time!

"YOUR SON?!" Starscream cried in utter shock.

"Then...then...who was your mate?" Knock Out asked.

Shockwave looked straight into Knock Out's face, and said, "You are."

And then, a horror scream echoed from Darkmount to hundred miles away.

* * *

**Not sure if I did a good job on this one. Review at any form is welcomed :3**


	6. Payback

_"The best revenge is massive success"_

* * *

Starscream and Knock Out had hard time swallowing the revelation. Shockwave, out of all Decepticons, had a son. If it were another person, it wouldn't be too strange. But it was Shockwave they were talking about.

"Starscream, you're holding the most coveted position in our ranks, aren't you?" Knock Out whispered, "Don't you know anything about this?"

"Well, back on Cybertron I once heard that Shockwave had a sparkmate who perished in middle of war..." Starscream tried to recall, "But, I didn't know anything more than that, even her name. And why should I know about it?"

"Whew, I...let's say I never expected it..." Knock Out already recovered from his shock, "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

"Not that I wanted to keep it secret, but I also did not see the connection between me and him, aside of our biological link," Shockwave explained, "Having a sparkling was never be in my planning. And, he was the most illogical thing I ever encountered. My principal is always to get rid all illogical things out of my processor."

"So you're saying, you ditched your son...?" Knock Out asked.

"I decided that the family link between me and him never existed. I agreed to surrender him to Decepticon ranks, upon Lord Megatron's order," Shockwave continued.

"Until now, this is the first time I heard you asking about your son since the day you gave him up, Shockwave," Megatron noted.

"So...why now?" Knock Out asked again.

"During my solitude on Cybertron, I gained more things than just advances in my research..." replied the scientist, with a grim voice.

Starscream had hard time keeping his pose as normal as possible. By the way Shockwave spoke, he was so curious about what actually happened on Helios, his son. And if only Starscream's murder act was found, surely he would go into scrapyard. Starscream was bit relieved by the fact that no one beside him knew about it.

...Right?

* * *

Back on Decepticon mine, Bulkhead and Wheeljack planted all the grenades on the cave entrance. Once they were finished, they ran back to the rocks where Miko was waiting.

"Ignition's planted," Bulkhead confirmed.

"Let's get this party started," Wheeljack grinned as he held his trigger.

"Company," Miko pointed out to something that flew in the sky far away, toward them.

"Megatron?" Wheeljack asked.

"Nah, bigger," Bulkhead shrugged, as he squinted his eyes to get better view.

It was the larger of the two Predacons, flying above their heads in the night sky.

"I don't remember seeing that move in buckethead's repertoire," Bulkhead said.

The Predacon flew, ignited its throat, and then breathed out a large fireball toward the trio. The three almost couldn't believe their eyes as the fireball plummeted toward them. Quickly, Bulkhead grabbed Miko, he and Wheeljack jumped to avoid it. The Predacon circled the sky and screeched loudly.

"A dragon?! Where did the Cons get a dragon?!" Miko asked in disbelief.

"What's a dragon?" Bulkhead and Wheeljack asked.

"Giant, flying, fire-breathing lizard!" Miko explained as she pointed to the creature above their heads.

Once again, the Predacon breathed another fireball toward them. Bulkhead jumped, and transformed to shield Miko from harm. Wheeljack brought out his cannons and faced the dragon straight on. But, the Predacon thwarted him aside with its tail. Wheeljack was slammed into a rock, and the Predacon crawled toward him. Bulkhead came, and punched the dragon on the face by his wrecking ball. Then, the Predacon blasted him away with a fire-breath.

"Bulkhead!" Miko cried and she rushed to her partner, "You okay?"

"Easy," Bulkhead said after he put out the flames on his armor, "I may be hot to the touch."

"Why is it coming after us?" Miko referred to the Predacon.

The Predacon seemed to ignore Bulkhead and searched for someone else instead.

"Looking for me, beast?" Wheeljack called, "I'm right here."

The dragon was about to attack again, until it heard weird beeping sound underneath. Wheeljack had put a grenade under its legs, and it went off. However, it did little damage to the Predacon.

"We're gonna need more firepower!" Bulkhead yelled.

"Good thing I know just where to find some," Wheeljack replied as he ran back to the mine. The Vehicon miners were in middle of work, when Wheeljack burst in all of the sudden.

"Incoming!" he yelled to the miners as he ran off.

"Autobot!" the Vehicons pointed their blasters to Wheeljack, but finally knew why he was in such rush.

Behind him was the Predacon on hot chase. The miners cried out in horror and also ran away with Wheeljack. After the Predacon was deep enough, Wheeljack transformed and returned back to the exit. As he returned to Bulkhead and Miko, he transformed back and took his trigger.

"And the walls came tumbling down," he smirked as he pressed it.

The blue explosion was so huge, they didn't think anything could survive in that.

"Yes! Snuff the tragic dragon!" Miko exclaimed.

But they were wrong, because the Predacon emerged from the rubble, and appeared fine. It screeched triumphantly to the night sky, much to the trio's horror.

"We're toast..." Miko said nervously.

And the Predacon flew toward them once again. Because he was being targeted, Wheeljack stood protectivelly in front of Bulkhead and Miko, and aimed his cannon to the beast. But suddenly, two blaster cannons popped out of nowhere and blasted the Predacon. Ultra Magnus' ship came into the view.

"One of ours?" Bulkhead asked.

"Does it matter?" Wheeljack asked back as he took off running.

Now the Predacon chased the ship, and the ship landed in front of Bulkhead and Wheeljack with its hatch lowered down. The trio hopped into it, and they went aboard to get away from the beast. And in that ship, Bulkhead and the others finally reunited with Arcee and Jack.

"Hey," Jack greeted.

"Arcee!" Bulkhead called in excitement.

Miko hopped off Bulkhead's hand and ran to hug Jack. When Bulkhead also gave Arcee a big hug.

"Can't breathe..." Jack choked out.

"Weakling," Miko snarled.

"Thanks for the save," Wheeljack thanked.

"Thank the Commander," Arcee pointed to Ultra Magnus.

"Soldier," Ultra Magnus greeted.

"You...?" Wheeljack questioned as he recognized Magnus.

"Ultra Magnus? It's an honor," Bulkhead said as he bowed down.

"It's an honor, _sir_," corrected Magnus.

"Guess blowing that mine made us pretty easy to spot," Wheeljack noted.

"Ultra Magnus are already on your signal, and ours," Arcee explained, "Care to tell us what exactly is nipping at our tailpipes?"

Arcee pointed to the Predacon who was still chasing them.

"We think it's a robo-dragon," Miko answered.

"Or Cybertronian reptile," Jack reasoned.

The Predacon and the ship were in dog and cat chase. Ultra Magnus saw that the beast was about to attack with fireball.

"Brace yourself!" warned Ultra Magnus.

And then he maneuvered his ship sharply to dodge the incoming. Things were getting shaky inside, Bulkhead held Jack and Miko so they didn't flip. Ultra Magnus did his best to avoid the Predacon at all cost, but the beast wasn't about to let them away. Finally, the ship rolled to the Predacon's back, and returned fire. The Predacon disappeared through the clouds, with the ship still tailed it. Until, it appeared in front of the ship and fired. The fire managed to hit the ship's thruster a bit.

It was the Predacon's turn again to chase them, and the ship's inside got even more shaky as Ultra Magnus dodged all of the fires.

"It's right on top of us!" Jack said.

Indeed, now the Predacon clung into the ship's top. Ultra Magnus looked at his radar, and found out they were in middle of canyon, and formed a plan. He harshly reduced the ship's altitude, and headed straight to the cliffs. He tried to shake the beast off by bumping it to the rockies. Miko started to feel sick after all the shaking and bumping. And finally, Ultra Magnus performed 360 degree upside down roll, and made the Predacon crashed straight to rocks.

The Predacon tumbled down to the canyon's bottom, but he got up without any trouble.

* * *

Aria finally regained consciousness on Helios' bed. As she got up, she felt very nasty headache, resulting from the crash that knocked her out before. The girl noticed that her upper arm part was patched so it didn't leak so much. She looked up to see Helios was working on his portal.

"What took you so long?" she asked as she got off the bed.

"Is that how you thank your savior?" Helios noted, but answered, "My GroundBridge was fried during the previous attack. I was pressed on time, so I could only apply emergency repair. Which, as you see, doesn't hold so much."

"Well, at least it's functional, right?" Aria asked again, "We have serious situation on our hands."

* * *

In the military base, Fowler's phone rang again. The Agent could guess who was calling at that hour.

"What is it now, 'Lord' Megatron?" Fowler answered lazily.

But he was wrong.

"_Agent Fowler, it's Ratchet,"_

Fowler was surprised, when June went straight to it, "Ratchet?! Where's Jack? Is he with you?"

"_No, he is not. Listen, we don't have much time,"_ Ratchet tried to sum it as short as possible.

* * *

"I have taken a tremendous yet calculated risk in contacting you," the medic said, "Hopefully the Decepticons are not monitoring their own frequencies as closely as they no doubt those of humans. I am transmitting our current coordinates."

Ratchet worked on sending the coordinates, then Bumblebee interrupted him.

_There's a giant spaceship heading our way!_ reported Bumblebee.

"What?" Ratchet exclaimed.

* * *

"Ratchet, have you heard from anyone else? What about Prime?" Fowler asked again.

But the link went off. Fowler and June exchanged confused look to each other.

* * *

Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Raf ran outside, but Bumblebee stopped Raf from going any further. Who knew if the incoming ship was ally or an enemy.

"It's one of ours," Ratchet said as he recognized the ship.

The ship landed in front of them, and the hatch opened up to reveal Arcee, Bulkhead, and the others.

"Raf!" Miko cried joyfully as she ran and hugged the boy.

"Girl's got a grip, doesn't she?" Jack smiled as he greeted Raf and hugged him as well.

"You're alive..." Ratchet breathed a sigh of relief as he finally reunited with the others, "Ultra Magnus?!"

"Doctor," Magnus greeted.

* * *

"What a grave disappointment this must be for you master," Starscream noted after the Predacon returned empty-handed, "And to make matters worse, because it cannot speak we have no way of knowing why the bigger Predacon failed so miserably. Poor mute mindless creature..."

The Predacon only growled quietly to the insult, but the Fifth White took offense seriously. It charged toward Starscream, who cried out in shock.

"W-w-what?! You dare to growl at your superior life form...?!" Starscream tried to play tough, but failed miserably.

The White was about to pounce, halted only because his fellow Predacon called him off. With a hiss, the White had no choice but to obey whom he considered as his boss, the bigger Predacon.

* * *

"New paint job looks good, Bee," Bulkhead commented.

"At least it's something to work with," Arcee noted, "If I reverse my colors, that'll be pink."

Meanwhile Ratchet and Ultra Magnus were in their discussion for next move.

"The communications link needs further calibration to be compatible with Autobot frequencies. The GroundBridge however, is fully functional," Ratchet reported.

"That would come in handy when the robo-dragon was trying to eat us for breakfast," Miko commented, when Jack and Raf tried to remind her to watch her tone around Ultra Magnus.

"The indigenous population of this planet, do they all display the same disregard for authority?" asked Magnus.

"No, mostly just Miko," Ratchet reassured, "For the count, two...I mean four of our team are still missing. Two of them are Optimus Prime and one Elite Guard graduates. The others are a Decepticon defect, and Optimus' daughter."

Ultra Magnus raised his eyebrows, "Arianna? I thought she disappeared from Cybertron long time ago. Did she wind up here, on this planet as well?"

"Yes, except that...she already passed away many months ago..." Ratchet recalled the event painfully, "The one I'm talking about is Optimus' another daughter."

Then, they heard a jet engine heading their way. Alarmed, Ultra Magnus deployed his blaster and charged forward. Only to be stopped by Arcee and Bulkhead.

"No!" Ratchet cried.

"Don't shoot!" said Arcee.

"It's Fowler, he's with us!" Bulkhead tried to explain.

It was indeed Fowler's jet, and he was there with June. As the plane landed, June climbed off the cockpit. She couldn't hide her joy as finally she reunited with her son.

"It's okay, mom, I'm fine," Jack reassured.

June also hugged the other two kids, "Your families are safe. Agent Fowler's out to it that Jasper was evacuated in time."

"The only signals Ultra Magnus was able to isolate are standing right here," Arcee said.

"Maybe your scans are faulty," Wheeljack pointed out.

"So the kids except Aria and Helios are accounted for," Bulkhead noted.

"Smokescreen and Aria bridged out of the company only Optimus knows where, "And Optimus remained behind to destroy the GroundBridge to ensure that everyone else made it to safety."

"Knowing that Aria, she wouldn't let him," Arcee sadly reminded them.

"I...waited the base cool down, no one or thing walked out of there," Fowler said.

"Not that we could see," June added.

"Even if Prime survived, I'm not sure we could afford to wait for the show up," Fowler said, "Not with Megatron holding our planet hostage from his high and mighty perjured Darkmount."

"I would be inclined to agree with the native life form," Ultra Magnus said as he walked forward, "We must stop Megatron with or without Optimus Prime."

* * *

"Father's dying, and you're the only one I currently have who is capable of patching him," Aria said in urgent manner, "So, open that GroundBridge because we don't have much time."

"Easy there. I know that this is urgent matter. However I have another proposal for you," Helios said as he walked to his computer and brought out the image of Darkmount, "I say we take care of this thing first."

"What?" asked Aria with skeptic look, "Helios, I don't think it's our top priority now."

"Now, haven't you seen this?" the boy then brought out the image of Jasper's destruction.

"Entire Jasper...?" Aria gasped at the photos.

"It looks like those four big fusion cannons were responsible for this," Helios said.

Aria noticed the photo of the fusion cannons of Darkmount. They were pointed to all direction, ready to be fired at all times. Aria realized that Megatron was posing a death threat to humanity. Not to mention, since the fortress came into view, the Decepticons began to outnumber the Autobots a thousand to one.

"That fortress is kinda downer, don't you think so?" Helios commented.

"Yeah, now that you mention it..." Aria agreed.

"I realize that our top priority as Whites is to keep the Prime safe. However, if we let that thing standing, I don't think we can even afford to fight back with our current situation," Helios reasoned.

"It really annoys me that Megatron used to think he can do whatever he pleases on this planet," Aria gritted her teeth in anger, and then she made up her mind. Smokescreen already got the hammer, so everything should be fine, "I really want a payback. I'm with you, we take down that thing first... fast."

"I knew you would agree," Helios smirked, "Nevertheless, to take down that fortress quickly, we now have the mean."

Helios called for the Heart of Prima, and materialized out another golden shield. It was Fortress Unit 1, identical to the Unit 2. However, it sprung out a big yellow blade instead of a bow. Helios fitted it on his right hand and looked at it in amazement.

"Speaking of, I dropped Unit 2 near Darkmount. Knowing that Megatron, he may already stashed it with his personal collection," Aria said.

"We just need to sneak in and take that shield back," Helios said as he typed his keyboard, "The inner fortress is shielded from any unauthorized GroundBridge, it seems. However, I spot a hole where we can get through. I forgot to ask, where's the remote I gave you?"

"I...dropped it somewhere..." Aria answered sheepishly.

"Clumsy girl, aren't you?" Helios sighed, "Anyway, if we go all out, taking the fortress down is pretty straightforward. Our main obstacle is The Fifth."

"Yeah, it obviously is in the Cons' side now. However I don't think we can talk some sense into it, but we can't just kill it off either," Aria lamented. "You have some sort of plan?"

"Not really, but we have to silence the beast somehow," Helios commented as he tried hard to come up with a plan, "That aside, I don't think you don't realize for what purpose this Fifth was created. Parthonus didn't tell me anything, but...I got this feeling."

"Me too," Aria sighed, "The Omega Lock is already destroyed after all."

Both of the Whites started to think another thing concerning The Fifth. But, they decided to push it aside. Because payback was their top priority than pay it forward.

* * *

Smokescreen was back on the cave, dragging the Forge.

"Optimus, I'm sorry. I lost Aria, but I have the Forge," Smokescreen said, "You can use it to repair yourself."

"That...is not the reason I had you retrieve the relic..." Optimus whispered.

"What? I...I don't understand..." Smokescreen replied.

"The power of the Forge is not unlimited. Its energy has already begone to have..." replied Prime.

"So it's running low, who cares? All we need is enough juice to get you back into fighting shape," Smokescreen urged.

"Whatever power remains, must be used to rebuild the Omega Lock. To restore Cybertron," Optimus continued.

"But that would mean..." Smokescreen trailed.

"The fate of all our kind is more vital than that of anyone of us...including me," Optimus said.

* * *

"We must do everything in our power to ensure Megatron's downfall," Ultra Magnus briefed, "But we would need to be smart about it."

"Wow, who put shoulder patch in command?" Wheeljack didn't sound happy.

"Temporary command," Jack reassured.

"Ultra Magnus is the only logical choice," Ratchet explained, "He was trained by Optimus and served as his commanding officer throughout the war of Cybertron."

"Now unless there's any further objection, soldier, please follow me," said Magnus as he walked back to his ship.

"Aye aye, captain," Wheeljack said lazily as he and the others followed the commander.

Ultra Magnus took them to his weapon case, and showed various weapons he had in arsenal.

"Autobots, take your pick," Magnus said.

"Now you're speaking my language, sir," Wheeljack said gleefully.

* * *

"Optimus, the Forge is relic of Primes," Smokescreen reasoned, "We can't use it to restore Cybertron not without a Prime, not without you."

"There will be...a new Prime..." Optimus replied.

"You can worry about that after we get you patched up, and and we take down Megatron," Smokescreen finally stood up, "Aria is also out there with the enemy, we have to look for her..."

But Optimus reached his hand, "The time for the new leader...is upon us. In my spark, I believe that leader stands before me right now..."

Smokescreen almost couldn't believe of what he just heard. He, a new Prime?!

* * *

Helios was tinkering with his GroundBridge, getting prepared for their launch plan. Aria, however, was swirling a winged jewel on her left hand.

"What're you gonna do with Heart of Alpha Trion?" asked Helios.

"I'm bit worried about father. Not about his injury. You probably don't know, but he's also kind of downer, especially at time like these," Aria said as she sent the Heart off. The jewel phased through the underground and to the sky above. "I just want to tell him, that he can't give up yet. Nor that he should sacrifice his life, as I'm more than willing to die for Cybertron."

* * *

**Review please. I think I'm kinda messed up this time.**


	7. Illogical

"_Trust your instinct to the end, though you can render no reason."_

* * *

Shockwave, being a lone wolf, once again locked himself in the Nemesis' lab. Not doing research or anything, but merely thinking.

Finally, his top secret was revealed. Shockwave already thought that it would happen sooner or later. But he never expected it being so much bother. During his exile on Cybertron, he began to think back about Helios. And after he revealed it to Starscream and the others, it only bugged him much more. The thought about his son was the only thing that could snag his thought away from his projects.

The one eyed scientist couldn't help but thinking back to how it all began.

It actually began with very ordinary project. As scientist, Shockwave studied everything. He studied the CNA to the very deep, so it included the creation of every Cybertronian. That's right, Helios was born to be his research. He had little choices, because back then every available Decepticon had to participate in the war. And after his report was complete, his subjects were nothing more. Because of that, he could barely remember which Decepticon femme he had messed up with.

One thing Shockwave was aware of, the newborn sparkling was a part of him. Everyone recognized Shockwave as mindless research drone, it was true until his son arrived. Helios had changed him, even if just a little bit. Even so, he had agreed to surrender the boy to the ranks once his research was complete. And he managed to persuade Megatron to keep it a secret, to protect the scientist's dignity.

But the thought of his son never truly left Shockwave's head. Because, Shockwave had heard news that Helios attempted several times to break inside the Decepticon base where he worked. Helios though, never managed to find his father. The heavy toll of the war eventually managed to distract him away from it. Until the day when Decepticon base was attacked out of the blue. During his escape, Shockwave overheard that there was a red sparkling inside. He immediately knew it was his son. And he didn't know what driven him, he just launched to find the boy.

_"Helios! Are you here, where are you?!" _he still remembered that day clearly.

Shockwave rummaged through the inferno, even trying to search between the ruins after the attack. But, his son disappeared to thin air from that day on. Because he already searched through everything, but there was no trace of Helios. The report came to him stating that Helios was missing. Finally, he came to conclusion that his son was dead, although with no proof.

Because of that, upon hearing Helios' death from Knock Out, Shockwave wasn't all too surprised.

However, he never expected to hear his son's name once again, on Earth nonetheless. Although, not in the same form anymore. Still, after seeing Helios in completely another form, numerous thoughts and feelings began to flood inside Shockwave's head. And the scientist was so overcome by the huge impact on his spark.

It wasn't a nostalgic feeling though, because he had seen his son's face only once, and Shockwave never met Helios again afterward. Regret? A bit of it. Guilty, pretty much, but not the main cause. Love? Shockwave still doubted on the 'illogical' word of love, or any kind like that.

He merely was thinking, couldn't help but thinking. What would happen if Helios was never born? What if he conducted his research in another way? What if he didn't surrender his son to Decepticon ranks? And what if he managed to find him in middle of the fire?

What if different things happened instead?

"Illogical," Shockwave muttered as he shook his head.

"What?" and much to his surprise, Knock Out had entered the lab without him noticing, "What illogical?"

Shockwave didn't answer, merely walked away and exited the lab. To find something, anything that could distract him away. But deep down his spark, he knew he would never be able to push Helios away from his self. At least, not with the currently living but completely different Helios in the play.

* * *

**I kinda like faceless Decepticon you know. And out of the two Waves, Shockwave is my favorite. Because, he can talk, what else? Nevertheless, he always talk about logic or something. It's kinda interested if he can have something more than that, right? **

**Review please :3**


	8. Why

_"We have no reliable guarantee that the afterlife will be any less exasperating than this one, have we?"_

* * *

"I have no intention to question your decision master, but," Starscream began, "Why do you insist on keeping the blue Predacon? It's disobedient, aggressive, not to mention, a White."

"Certainly, as I mention before, White Energon and Dark Energon aren't close buddy," added Knock Out.

"You think I would let the Whites to think they have upper hand because they have the Blood of Saint? Never," said Megatron, "Let the Saint does whatever she wants. Even if we get rid of the White Predacon, she would just make some more. But, I am not concerned by it. As if the Dark Energon inside me is inferior to her blood."

"Well, considering the Saint is a majestic being like Primus and..." Knock Out said.

"Parthonus is not anywhere near Unicron or Primus," Megatron cut in, "She was merely a Saint, a mortal."

"I'm afraid I don't see the difference, master," Starscream asked.

"The Holy Saint was merely another creation of Primus," Megatron explained, "But unlike the other creations like the Thirteen, she originated directly from Primus' spark."

* * *

Ultra Magnus and the team were preparing for the mission. It was very daring and risky mission, since not only the Autobots' lives at risk. Because of that, they needed to think the strategy very carefully. And Ultra Magnus was proven to be excellent leader, second only to Optimus of course.

"Autobots, we remain vastly outnumbered in spite our ammunitions," Ultra Magnus reminded them, "Do not currently possess the firepower necessary to compromise the Decepticons' citadel."

"Uncle Sam's military does," Fowler replied, "I just can't let them make a move as long as Megatron's ray guns are pointed at Washington."

"Then we must infiltrate Darkmount in order to nullify its fusion cannons," said Magnus.

"Unfortunately it seems that the fortress is heavily shielded against unauthorized Groundbridges, even though it is originating from Decepticon technology," Ratchet reported.

"Guess we'll have to sneak pass enemy lines, Wrecker-style," said Wheeljack.

"I couldn't deal with 'Wrecker-style' back on Cybertron, and I refuse to deal with it here," Ultra Magnus protested, silencing the Wrecker.

"Now we require a mean of thinning the Decepticon ranks to the odds, if we'd have any hope of completing this mission," Ultra Magnus trailed, "Or surviving it."

* * *

Meanwhile, Smokescreen was pacing back and forth, pondering over Optimus' words. He once dreamt being a Prime, and that was why he idolized Optimus so much. But at the current situation, Smokescreen didn't find it amusing at all.

"I...I can't do this," he said, "I mean, sure, who wouldn't want be a Prime? But I'm...really not ready for that kind of responsibility. Besides, shouldn't it be Aria? She's your daughter, and a White."

"Smokescreeen...the choice is neither yours or mine...to make. Aria...has more greater destiny which is already set upon her, and already accepted..." replied Optimus, "When it is time...the Matrix of Leadership will present itself only to one whose spark is worthy..."

Smokescreen began to ponder if his spark was worthy enough. But that wasn't the main concern at all. If new Prime was to be made, then Optimus surely would pass. And Smokescreen, couldn't imagine if that happened.

* * *

First phase of infiltrating Darkmount was to reduce the Decepticon forces. Jack was sent to another abandoned gas station, and he pulled out his cell phone.

"Because it worked so well last time..." Jack trailed, as he sent random text message from his cell phone. Deliberately, to get the signal caught.

* * *

"I knew the humans couldn't resist using their telecommunications..." Starscream mused as the signal was detected on the screen, "That is all they seem to do."

He turned around to face the group of Vehicons behind.

"Seek and destroy!"

* * *

"I have five bogeys converting right on top of Jack!" Raf reported as he saw the screen, five Decepticon signals were approaching fast to Jack's position.

"Not anymore," Ratchet said.

The medic immediately opened the GroundBridge so Jack could make quick escape. Jack hopped inside the Harbinger, and gave the thumb up. So, time for another round.

"Miko, your turn," Ratchet reported.

* * *

Miko was sent to an alley somewhere, and she made phone call to pizza in order to attract the Decepticon's attention as well.

"Hello, I need two large pies, sicilian," Miko said, "You deliver, right?"

* * *

Starscream couldn't help but cackled as Miko's signal too was caught on radar.

"Humans..." Starscream mused, before sending out another troops, "Standby to GroundBridge!"

Soundwave interrupted him, showing that they already sent quite a number of Vehicons out. And the five drones from before haven't come back yet. Not to mention, two of the Autobots' allies calling one after another, wasn't that strange?

"Soundwave, why can't you accept a little good fortune? The Autobots couldn't possibly stay hidden forever," the Commander argued.

* * *

Miko immediately retreated back to the Harbinger, like Jack.

"I really could've used that pizza," she noted.

"I've tapped into the Decepticons' communication network. Are you ready Jack?" Ratchet asked.

"Cough cough. Decepticon command, do you read me?" Jack recited.

Ratchet and Ultra Magnus remained silent for a while. The Autobots' voice could easily be recognized, however Jack's voice wasn't convincing either.

"I remain unconvinced," Magnus said.

"I will enhance your performance with static," Ratchet proposed.

* * *

*static*_"Decepticon command, do you read me? We're under Autobot attack"_

"It's one of our Energon mines," Starscream said as he traced the source of the signal, "Insecticons, prepare for battle!"

* * *

After thinning out the Decepticon ranks, it was time to storm in.

"Autobots, lock and load!" Magnus ordered as he too, prepared his cannon.

Bumblebee put on a shield and a blaster, Bulkhead picked up a very large cannon. Wheeljack had an electric whip and a cannon, while Arcee chose a laser blaster.

GroundBridge portal opened behind them. It's time to go. It's now or never.

* * *

Fowler with the military soldiers were also prepared with their jets packed with missiles. With the ammunitions, they surely could take the Decepticon citadel down.

"Keep the engines warm boys," Fowler instructed, "We launch the moment Ultra Magnus gives the all clear."

* * *

"Helios, aren't you done yet?" Aria asked impatiently.

"Just a little bit more," replied the boy, without moving from the GroundBridge control panel.

"By the way, do you know anything about a Decepticon scientist named Shockwave?" Aria asked.

"...Well, I did hear that name when I was still under Megatron," Helios said, "But, I'm not interested in learning that kind of stuff. Why?"

"Nope, nothing," Aria shrugged it off.

* * *

The Decepticon Energon mine was in middle of usual work, when a group of Insecticon entered from top cave. They landed and transformed in front of the workers. The workers merely exchanged confused look to each other, on why did the Insecticons come there?

"_There must be some mistake, Commander Starscream. The mine is not under attack._"_  
_

Starscream was baffled to the end.

"What? How could I...?" he trailed.

"STARSCREAM!" Megatron roared, "Explain why my forces are scattering across this globe?!"

"Renegade Autobot mischief, Lord Megatron," Starscream replied, "I'm in process of deducing how they're infiltrating our communication systems without the base of..."

Soundwave already traced the problem faster. He presented an image of the downed Harbinger, where Starscream lived when he was operating solo.

"The Harbinger...?" realized Starscream.

"You left abandoned Decepticon technology fully operational and UNSECURED?!" Megatron barked at his lieutenant.

Starscream quivered in fear, "A...allow me to correct my hindsight immediately..."

With Starscream's command, a large number of Seekers were preparing to dispatch.

"_All Seeker armada to flight deck. Your target is the Decepticon's ship, the Harbinger. _You are to obliterate at once!" Starscream commanded, "My armada is in position. Open the GroundBridge to the Harbinger."

But before Soundwave could do that, a series of explosions rocked the citadel. It seemed like the Autobots already moved to their next phase. The radar quickly detected the explosions occurred at the bottom side of the Darkmount.

"Such it would seem that Darkmount is presently under attack," Megatron said, "Kindly redirect all efforts toward ensuring that our invaders are eradicated!"

* * *

Wheeljack and Bulkhead were in charge attacking from the front line, Wrecker-style. Wheeljack already caused initial damage, and he was ready to cause much more.

"Firing another hole!" he said as he threw a grenade to the fortress.

_KABOOM_

The duo immediately made their moves forward with weapons hot. Above, a group of Seekers transformed to jet, and flew downward to attack the invaders. Bulkhead shot some of them with his new cannon, and Wheeljack also used the electrical whip to dispatch some more. With the great weapons in hand, they decided to push forward in vehicle mode.

Another Seeker was on guard duty outside, when somebody tapped his wings. When he spun around, Bumblebee and Arcee were behind him. And Bumblebee silenced the drone immediately with a punch.

* * *

Two Seekers were guarding the important rooms inside Darkmount. One drone noticed that his teammate had some rubbles and dirt on his wings, so he proceeded to wipe it off.

"Thanks. Have no time for clean up since scavenging in the Autobot base ruins," the said drone brushed the rubbles and dirts off his body.

Among the rubbles, there was a tiny remote. It suddenly turned on, much to the drones' confusion. When they crouched to examine it, the remote seemed to display some kind of coordinates. And much to their surprise, a small GroundBridge portal popped above it, with Aria and Helios burst from it.

"Intruders!" the drones immediately opened fire.

Both of the Whites transformed and dispatched the drones with ease. Aria could fight efficiently even only with one arm. Helios used his shield blade for beta test, and with it, he sliced a Vehicon in half smoothly like butter.

"Whoa, better be careful when swinging that thing," Aria noted, "Or you may slice off any unwanted head."

"Will do," Helios said as he folded back the blade to the shield, "You dropped the GroundBridge operator remote and the Decepticons picked it up. Because of it, I can penetrate the citadel's GroundBridge shielding system. Either you're clumsy, or having rather weird luck."

"How sarcasm. Hey, thanks to it we can fire up the GroundBridge here, right?" Aria snarled.

"Fortress Unit 1 and Unit 2 remain in sync. And according to mine, it seems that Unit 2 is stashed inside the warship. If we use air way, we can get there in matter of seconds," Helios noted.

"But that would mean we're more likely to attract the Fifth's attention as well," Aria said, "We'd go with plan B, scouting from inside by foot."

"Well then, let's move," Helios gave the cue.

* * *

Bumblebee and Arcee also advanced inside the Darkmount. Being stealth experts, they proceeded with utmost caution and weapons open. They were tasked to secure the fusion cannons from inside. And as they made a turn, they sensed someone was coming. Arcee and Bumblebee pointed their weapons immediately, only to find Aria and Helios there.

"Bee, Miss Arcee?!" Aria called out in shock and excitement.

_It's them! Aria and Helios__! _Bumblebee called out.

Four of them ran closer to reunite briefly. Arcee was relieved to see both of the kids intact, although Aria was missing her right arm.

"Glad to see you're still in one pieces," Aria said in big relief.

"Can't say the same for you Aria. What happened to your arm?" Arcee asked in concern, referring to Aria's severed right arm.

"No big deal," Aria shrugged and covered her right arm with left hand.

"So glad to know you're alright, Helios," Arcee greeted with a smile.

"_Gracias_," it was rare chance to see the Spanish boy smiling.

_The Cons are coming. We cannot stay long here_ Bumblebee reminded.

"Bee's right. We have to do the small talk later," Arcee said, "We're currently heading to the fusion cannon control to disable it from inside. Wanna tag along?"

"We're also about to head there, but later. We want to retrieve something first from the warship," said Helios.

"And silencing the annoying White Fifth in dragon form," added Aria, "But, it would seem you two will need extra gun in infiltrating the fusion cannons."

Before they could talk much more, incoming Decepticon troops interrupted them. Immediately, they went straight into battle mode. And they knew the time for chat was over. They needed to focus on task.

"How about this?" Helios suggested as he shot down one drone, "We will try to finish our business as fast as possible, then we'll meet up in the fusion cannon's control."

"Deal," Arcee nodded.

_Safe trip you two_ Bumblebee waved.

"FYI, if you happen to come across a blue flying lizard breathing out white flame, do not engage at all," Aria said as the two Whites dashed away from the place, "I repeat, Do. Not. Engage."

* * *

More explosions rocked the citadel. Even though Starscream already dispatched many troops to engage the intruders, things weren't getting better at all.

"I assure you master, I have everything under control..." Starscream tried to reassure his frustrated master.

But Megatron was no fool. He knew that the situation went worse, and because of that, he snarled angrily at his 2nd in Command.

"Lord Megatron," Shockwave stepped forward, "I accept that military considerations are outside my domain. But perhaps it is once again time, to release the Predacons."

* * *

Bulkhead and Wheeljack were rolling hot to the fortress, but much to their confusion the Decepticon troops retreated. Both of the Autobots transformed and looked to the sky. By that, they finally knew what was the problem.

The two Predacons were on top of the citadel's spire, roaring to the Autobots.

"They have two of those?!" Bulkhead cried in disbelief.

"Scrap!" Wheeljack cursed aloud, "Why the Cons always get the good things?"

Both of the Predacons then flew downward. Bulkhead and Wheeljack immediately opened fire to both of them. That was when Ultra Magnus' ship came to interfere. Both Predacons soon set their sights to the ship, and chased it. Ultra Magnus kept flying until the distance was far enough, then...

"Ratchet..."

* * *

"_NOW!"_

With that cue, Ratchet pressed a button.

* * *

A GroundBridge portal opened in front of Magnus' ship. The ship rolled upward so the Predacons would storm right into the portal. But, only the boss fell for it, while the other one managed to perform dodge maneuver.

The biggest Predacon was transported to somewhere in Arctic. It stumbled and rolled on the ice surface. It attempted to get up and flew, but the extreme cold temperature immediately froze the Predacon like a popsicle.

The other Predacon watched as the GroundBridge portal closed, and hissed angrily. It soon had renewed vigor to chase down Magnus' ship for revenge. A giant white fireball was fired upon the ship, which Ultra Magnus barely dodged. Then, Helios was striking into the scene, flying with Aria on his grip. As expected, the Fifth soon changed its target to both Whites.

"Wait, is that Helios?" Bulkhead asked from below.

"And Prime's little girl," said Wheeljack with a smirk, "Guess both of those kids are pretty hardy."

Helios and Aria flew directly to the Darkmount tower with the Fifth Predacon chasing. Whites were rare, so they decided not to kill the dragon, merely silencing it.

"You ready for the containment plan?" asked Helios.

"Roger," Aria nodded.

Helios was smaller, so he could maneuver swiftly to the Fifth's back. He dropped Aria to the back of the dragon. As expected, the Fifth began to struggle to shake the girl off. Aria fought for grip with only one hand, then she grabbed the Predacon's horn. Aria tried to make the Predacon flying to the direction she wished. She directed the Fifth to fly upward, toward the fusion cannons.

After they were near one of the cannons, Aria hopped off the Fifth and entered one cannon.

"Hey big boy, you wanna play fetch?!" Aria yelled to the Fifth.

The Fifth was taunted, so it tried to enter the fusion cannon as well. The cannon was cramped, but the Predacon managed to squeeze in. Aria rushed to the deeper area, and the Fifth squeezed its way deeper as well, until they reached even more smaller area of the cannon. Finally, Aria transformed to human form so she could get out of the cannon through small opening.

"Helios, NOW!" Aria yelled.

Helios was on the opening of the cannon. He fired out a big white blast from his blaster, to push the White Predacon and plug it inside the fusion cannon. Then, the orange boy proceeded to cast a force field on the opening, to prevent it from getting out. Helios hauled Aria and they flew to their next target, the warship. The said cannon was shaking, indicating the Fifth was struggling to get out.

"Don't you think we're bit too far? We agree not to kill him, but, if that cannon is to fire, the Fifth can get roasted," Aria asked in concern.

"We're to disable the four fusion cannons, and we already took care of one," said Helios casually, "Just take this as a test for new guy. If he can get out of that cannon, congratulation. But if he can't, then we just go ahead and gouge his spark out."

"What are we? Aztec people?" Aria rolled her eyes, "Just drop me at the warship. I'll go and take the Unit 2 back."

"By yourself?" Helios asked.

"The team is under staff, we're always like that. You go and give them helping hand," said Aria, "I'll meet up with you guys once I have my weapon."

"Alright," Helios said.

The boy flew few meters from the warship, and threw Aria to the roof. Aria landed on the rooftop and transformed to human form so she could sneak in easily. She gave a glance to Helios, before motioned for him to go. Helios replied with a nod, then flew away from the Nemesis.

* * *

Both of the Predacons' take off were seen on the Nemesis' monitor.

"Oh well..." Starscream couldn't help but smirk back to his most hated rival, "Well, we still have another one here, don't we? That, if it can get out of the tough fusion cannon."

Shockwave's expression was hard to read. He merely walked away from the ship's bridge, with no words.

"Yes, that's right. Go out and sulk, why don't you?" Starscream taunted.

But Shockwave didn't get the taunt, merely jumped out of the warship to the tower's spire. He was pissed off, and ready to lash it out toward the Autobots. And as he jumped down to lower spires, he spotted Helios flying downward.

That's the boy, initially a human, and fused together with Shockwave's dead son's body. Becoming a half-organic Decepticon, with White Energon flowing inside his body.

"HELIOS!" Shockwave called out in instant.

Helios stopped in mid air, and he looked up to the source of the calling. He was rather surprised to find the one eye Decepticon, staring at him eerily. The way Shockwave stared at the boy was rather weird, and scary.

Shockwave couldn't help but thinking back to the day. The orange boy's face really reminded Shockwave of his late son's face. Shockwave knew that the boy before him wasn't his son. And that fact, hurt his spark painfully. And in matter of seconds, the pain turned into anger. Shockwave jumped down, aimed his cannon, and blasted Helios.

Helios was unprepared, so he was hit by the blast and plummeting down with his shoulder smoking. Shockwave watched as the boy fell down thousands feet to the Earth. The scientist, was so pissed off, by the sight of the half-Decepticon.

* * *

"Who...stands...before me...?" Optimus whispered with even weaker voice.

"What?" Smokescreen asked in confusion, "It's me Optimus, Smokescreen."

"Who...?"

The Prime's optics were dimming out. Optimus was seeing something completely different. His soul was approaching the gate to afterlife.

"_Come, Optimus."_

"Is it truly you? Alpha Trion?" asked Optimus to the light before him.

_"I stand before you, my student,"_ Alpha Trion said, "_As such, it would seem that it is your time."_

Optimus looked down with hesitant in his eyes.

"_Why do you hesitate?"_

"I do not fear joining with the Allspark, with Elita and Arianna," said Optimus, "But, for the fate of Matrix of Leadership...and the promise I have made to Aria, my another daughter."

_"You know as well as I, a worthy candidate is near. One who will learn to be a Prime and being guarded by the incarnations of Parthonus, as you once did,"_ Alpha Trion reasoned.

* * *

"_Ultra Magnus to stealth team_," Ultra Magnus radioed from his ship, "Status report."

* * *

Arcee and Bumblebee were approaching the target, but they were held back by numerous troops. They tried to break in, but the drones were too many.

"_Having little trouble reaching the objective,"_ reported Arcee, "Security's tighten than anticipated, sir."

* * *

"Keep them occupied," said Magnus.

Ultra Magnus headed straight to the fusion cannons. He lowered his hatch, stepped out of his ship with cannon in hand. He let the ship flew away with autopilot, and advanced to the control room. In his mid-way, he heard one of the fusion cannons burst open, revealing the blue-black Predacon. Ultra Magnus was wary, but the Predacon flew to totally opposite direction. Deciding to deal with it later, the Commander advanced forward.

Ultra Magnus broke his way into the control room with his cannon, and dismissed the Vehicons there with ease. But just as he was about to shoot the fusion cannon's power core, another blast hit his cannon off his hands.

"Ultra Magnus," it was Megatron, arriving on the control room, "Allow me to venture, you attempt to disarm my fusion cannons by disabling their power core."

"Indeed Megatron," Magnus said and he deployed his built in blasters, "And you are standing in my way!"

Never to back down, the Commander charged directly into Megatron.

* * *

Aria managed to sneak inside the warship's storage in her human mode. She changed to Autobot mode, and took out Fortress Unit 2 from the vault.

"I miss you so much," Aria said as she put the shield on her remaining arm, "Now, to get out of this place..."

As Aria got out of the storage, she was surrounded by number of Vehicons. The girl merely smirked, as she unfolded the shield's bow and aimed it at the Cons.

Aria somehow managed to fight the drones off and made her way to the warship rooftop. She could thwart the Decepticons easily with her Unit 2. But, to her horror, something landed right in front of her, it was the Fifth Predacon. It was so pissed off, because Aria and Helios plugged it inside the fusion cannon before. And the Fifth was more than ready to seek payback.

"Scrap...!" Aria cursed aloud.

* * *

Shockwave finally landed on the ground after high sky-drop. Directly in front of him were Bulkhead and Wheeljack fighting off the Seekers. Shockwave didn't wait any second, he transformed to tank mode and advanced forward. When he was close enough, he fired his tank cannon, and blasted the Wreckers with ease. As both of the Autobots were knocked out, Shockwave transformed and walked closer.

"Your mission was most...illogical," Shockwave commented.

* * *

Arcee and Bumblebee still had trouble fighting the drones, but much to their dismay, more drones came and trapped them in middle. Both of them knew, they were vastly outnumbered.

"Scrap...!" Arcee sighed nervously.

* * *

Ultra Magnus put quite a fight with Megatron. Even if he had smaller built, he was more agile than the Decepticon warlord. Nevertheless, Megatron grabbed Magnus' blasters, and sent him crashing with headbutt. Ultra Magnus tried to fight back, but Megatron pinned him against the wall. And with one punch, Magnus was knocked out.

"Ultra Magnus...you are no Optimus Prime," Megatron snarled.

* * *

"...Apparently the containment didn't last long, huh?" Aria dryly noted.

The Fifth fired out a white flame, which Aria defended with her shield. However, the force was enough to sent her flying. Aria managed not to fall out the ship, but she was so close to the edge. The situation wasn't good with the Fifth in play. She only had one arm, it was occupied with the shield. To make thing even worse, the Fifth got her cornered at the edge of the ship.

"Helios, I could really use helping hand here," Aria reached her comm, but no answer, "...Helios, do you copy?"

Helios couldn't answer, because he was knocked out from the fall before. And, he was taken captive, being brought to Shockwave by the drones. As Helios regained his consciousness a bit, he found himself in front of Shockwave. And the scientist, glared at him menacingly. Shockwave had a reason why he was so pissed off by the boy. Knowing the fact that his son was a part of that human boy, but Helios in front of him wasn't his son.

Why did the human remain alive, while his son didn't?

* * *

The time had passed quite a bit. The human military had grown more uneasy as the time passed.

"What in the name of pole reverse horses taking them so long?!" Fowler snapped.

* * *

Megatron dragged the downed Magnus to the throne room for interrogation.

"All invaders had been taken captive, master. The remaining one is Optimus' daughter, but she would join the group soon," said Starscream, "But there was no sign of Optimus Prime, even though his little girl is here."

"Optimus's...daughter...?" Ultra Magnus whispered weakly.

"Indeed, his daughter is here, waiting to be reunited with her father," said Megatron, "So tell me, Commander. Where might your leader be?"

* * *

"_Take my hand, Optimus. And join me, join your family, in the Allspark,"_ Alpha Trion said.

Optimus was still hesitating, but knew that it might be his time. He approached his mentor, staring at his eyes, then extended his hand slowly.

Then suddenly, a ball of light entered the cave. Smokescreen took defensive position, but realizing it was merely a Heart of Wisdom. The golden jewel flew and shone brightly in front of him.

There was also a light behind Optimus, as he was about to take Trion's hand. The light materialized into somebody Optimus missed so much.

"Arianna...?"

_"Father,_" Arianna's spirit spoke.

"Do you come to take me as well...? Take me to your place, and Elita?" Optimus asked.

"_Mother and I want so badly, for you to join us, but..."_ Arianna trailed with sad tone, "_Your duty as a parent is not over yet, is it? Don't you know there is somebody you will break if you pass away now?"_

Optimus immediately knew of what she was referring to.

"_I requested for you taking care of Aria. Your another daughter, and my younger sister whom I love so much,"_ Arianna said, "_So, why do you quit now?"_

"This is anything but my will, my dear," Optimus replied, "I have no control over my time, like you, and any other living beings."

"_Maybe, but know this. I mean it when I said somebody will break,_" Arianna stressed, "_If you die now, Aria will not care about her life anymore. I'm serious, dead serious. And I don't want it to happen." _

* * *

**SCREW YOU, ALPHA TRION **

**Oh well, review please :3**


	9. Strike and action

_"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it"_

* * *

"Optimus, NO!" Smokescreen cried out.

But no matter how much he shouted out, Optimus' optics died out. And suddenly, his chest went open, revealing the Matrix of Leadership and his Heart of Wisdom. Alpha Trion's Heart was swirling around Optimus' body, vigorously.

* * *

Aria was still struggling with the Fifth. She was thrown off the warship's roof and currently facing the Predacon on the fortress' platform. The Decepticon Seekers immediately came and surrounded her completely.

And that was when both Aria and the Fifth felt Optimus' death. When the Fifth was confused of the strange feeling, Aria felt the sky crumbled on top of her.

"No...!" she gasped as she fell on her knees.

"Commander Starscream, we have the Autobot completely trapped," reported one Seeker, "Should we capture her, or shoot her?"

"Why trouble yourself?" Aria snarled hopelessly, "If you want to shoot me, then go ahead. I'd rather die than being captured by Decepticons...!"

* * *

"This isn't how the story's supposed to end..." Smokescreen lamented.

The Prime title sounded so delicious, but Smokescreen knew there was something more worthy to fight for. He couldn't give up on Optimus yet. If he died, everyone would be extremely lost in sadness. Especially Aria, and Smokescreen couldn't face her crying face. Smokescreen looked back to the Forge he salvaged before. Aria told him to give it to her father. And that was what he did. He dragged the Forge and put it on Optimus' hand. The hammer swirled with blue energy, and it burst out blue spark inside the cave.

"_Father, if you die now, Aria too, will die,"_ Arianna still tried to convince her father not to give up, "_There will be a time when we all reunite as family in Allspark. But please, don't let it end now, and in this way." _

* * *

"I will not ask again!" Megatron pushed, because Ultra Magnus refused to reveal anything. Heck, he even didn't know anything.

"If I knew, I wouldn't tell you...!" Magnus insisted.

"Very well. Execute our prisoners. If Aria is still resisting capture, then shoot to kill," said Megatron as he unsheathed his blade. "And fire each cannon to nearest metropolis within sight. It is time to show the known universe that this planet belongs to Megatron..."

"Master, something's coming," Starscream called.

Megatron looked ahead to see something was coming to the fortress, from the sky. But, the distance was still too great.

On the ground, Helios was getting annoyed because Shockwave didn't cast off his sight of him. To have one eye Decepticon eyed you all the time was pretty creepy.

"Do you know me?" Helios finally asked, "Or rather, do I know you?"

Shockwave didn't answer because Arcee and Bumblebee were also being taken to the ground, with their hands up. That was when Bumblebee pointed to something rocketing on the sky. Even the drones and the Fifth who surrounded Aria took notice of it.

"Predacon?" asked Megatron.

"Hmm, not beasty enough," commented Starscream.

* * *

"How's that possible?" Ratchet gasped when he saw his monitor.

"What?" Jack asked.

"An Autobot signal," Ratchet said, "But it's...airborne...!"

* * *

"Finally...!" Aria knew who was it even before he came into sight.

"I know that color scheme..." Starscream commented as the figure came closer.

Megatron finally saw who was it. It was Optimus Prime, flying with his brand new jetpack like a Superman, in his brand new armory as well.

"Wait, he can't fly! Can he?" Starscream asked in disbelief.

Well, he can now. Optimus landed on the throne room and punched Megatron away. And with another punch, he sent Megatron crashing to his throne. The Vehicon soldiers opened fire to the Prime, so Optimus finished them with his new gatling gun. Starscream tried to get away quietly, but Ultra Magnus stood on his feet and punched the jet away.

"Commander?" Optimus asked.

"Sir, you're looking...robust," Ultra Magnus commented, "It is paramount that we disable the fusion cannons below."

"Understood," Optimus nodded as he unfolded his jetpack and flew away.

"All units, Optimus Prime has returned," Ultra Magnus broadcasted.

* * *

Hearing that, Ratchet and the three kids couldn't help but dance in joy.

"YES!" Jack cheered.

"Awesome!" cheered Miko.

"Thank the Allspark!" Ratchet cried out in big relief.

"Sweet!" Raf yelled in excitement.

* * *

Back on military base, the soldiers also received the news.

"_I repeat, Prime is alive and quite well."_

"YES!" Fowler cheered.

* * *

The captive Autobots heard that loud and clear. They got some kind of instant morale boost. So, they nodded to each other, and immediately fought back their captors. Bulkhead and Wheeljack immediately charged to Shockwave, seeking revenge.

"Hey, where's Helios?" asked Arcee as she looked around but no sight of the boy.

_Dunno, _Bumblebee shrugged.

* * *

"Thank Primus!" Aria also breathed out a sigh of relief.

"We have received the confirmation! Shoot to kill!" the Seeker cried out.

But Aria immediately shot to kill the jet first. She got the renewed vigor to fight back.

"Sorry, not gonna happen," she smirked.

The Fifth was also back on business, firing out white flame and attempting to stomp Aria at the same time. Aria was thrown back by the blast, off the platform. Suddenly, the upper layer of her shield detached and deployed into rocket booster sky board. It immediately saved Aria from falling, and sent her rocketing to the sky.

"WHOA!" Aria yelped as she tried to balance, "Wow, I'm...flying?"

The Seekers and the Fifth gave chase and shot her, so the girl fought desperately for control. But she got hang of it, and began the mid-air battle with the Decepticons.

Megatron broke free from the throne's rubble, Starscream also came around. By the time they realized it, Ultra Magnus escaped from the throne room by jumping on top of his ship and flying away. Megatron walked to the edge of the platform and saw Optimus flying toward the fusion cannons. Letting out a roar of rage, Megatron transformed and chased after the Prime.

Optimus arrived at the fusion cannons and prepared to shoot it down with his gatling gun. But Megatron came to interfere.

"OPTIMUS!" roared Megatron as he let out a couple of shots, which hit Optimus directly.

Optimus maneuvered and flew around the fortress with Megatron chasing from behind. He dodged the spires and the shots for a moment before returning fire on himself. Meanwhile, Aria already finished all the chasing Decepticon flyers, the Fifth was the only one left. Starscream also witnessed Optimus chasing Megatron this time, and he received a report from his troop.

"_Commander, a cluster of enemy signals, incoming!"_

"Humans...!" grumbled Starscream, "Activate the fusion cannons!"

The drones immediately went to work, and charged all the fusion cannons.

Fowler and his soldiers were coming with their jets. Because the Prime had returned, they had to do it now or never.

"Sky strikers!" Fowler instructed, "Await my command."

Megatron was still chasing Optimus. Optimus picked up a speed, so did Megatron. Suddenly, Optimus turned around and punched Megatron. He grabbed Megatron's plane tail, and swung him around.

"Megatron, BEGONE!" Optimus yelled and he threw Megatron like a frisbee...

...Straight back to the fortress' fusion cannons power core. It caused the core to explode and the cannons stopped charging. Optimus stood in front of the cannons, watching as the green energy ball died out. Then, he heard a crash from above, and a scream of his daughter.

The Fifth Predacon somehow managed to throw Aria right to the throne room, in front of Starscream. Aria was already injured gravely from her fight with the Predacon and the Seekers. Aria tried to stand up, but Starscream stomped on her head harshly.

"Perfect work, my pet," Starscream smirked, "At the very least, we have a perfect hostage to..."

Starscream couldn't finish his words, because he was slammed away by Optimus. Rage was clearly presented on the Prime's eyes.

"Stay away from her, Starscream," Optimus said with very dangerous tone. He stood protectively in front of his daughter.

Scared for his life, Starscream transformed and fled from the throne room. The Fifth attempted to tackle Optimus, but as the Prime turned around to face it, the Predacon suddenly scrambled back with scared look on its face. The instinct as a White told it not to attack the Prime. Having no other choice, the Fifth also fled from the scene.

"Father, you're alive!" Aria called out in joy.

"My dear, I am afraid we have to save the small talk for later," Optimus heard the incoming air strike. So he hurriedly picked up Aria, and flew as far as possible from Darkmount.

Ultra Magnus also knew it was the human military's turn to finish the job. "Autobots! Clear the area!"

All the Autobots below heard the command. Arcee and Bumblebee were the first to transform and raced away. Bumblebee managed to run over Shockwave's face, as he, Bulkhead and Arcee fled the scene. Wheeljack gave Shockwave a nice stomp on his head, before transforming and rushed away.

"Let's do this," Fowler ordered.

With his cue, all the jets fired of their high-explosives missiles to the Darkmount. In one shot, the gigantic fortress was boomed and on fire.

"Soundwave, I require a GroundBridge," Shockwave requested as the fortress came tumbling down from the sky.

Miraculously, Megatron was still alive and well even after colliding with the power core. Starscream came in right time when the fortress was breaking apart.

"Transport Lord Megatron to the warship," ordered Starscream to the troops.

"What are you doing? No! We are not to retreat!" Megatron insisted as the drones hauled him and took him away.

"This battle is lost, my liege. We must retreat if we are to have any hope of winning the war!" Starscream replied.

* * *

Meanwhile, Smokescreen just arrived at the scene. He witnessed the Darkmount on fire from the highway.

"Aww, I missed it," moaned the soldier.

* * *

The warship got away in nick of time, because by the next second, the tower completely collapsed to the ground. Optimus and Aria watched from the sky, as the fortress was reduced to ash.

"They get away..." Aria commented to the runaway warship.

"They will no doubt seek for another advantage to regain control of this planet," Optimus replied, "I am truly sorry Aria, for coming so late."

"No, I should be the one apologizing. I left you behind," apologized Aria.

"We can be even, as I almost left you behind as well...forever," Optimus said, making his daughter looked at him in confusion.

Optimus immediately spotted the team reuniting at the ruins of Autobot's former base. Immediately, Optimus made a descend and regrouped with them as well. All the Autobots swarmed the Prime at the same time, demanding explanation.

"Hey Optimus!" Bulkhead greeted joyfully, "What took you so long, boss?"

"Glad to see you're alive," Arcee added.

"Say, where's Helios?" Aria asked.

Before anyone could answer, Helios made his appearance from the sky and landed in front of the group.

"Hey, where did you go? Leaving the battle area all of the sudden?" Wheeljack asked.

"Optimus has joined the party, so I thought I should be going and scouting for something," Helios's hand had Aria's severed right arm he had found, "This is the thing."

"What, you left the battlefield, only to find an arm?" Aria asked.

"Your arm," Helios replied.

"Still, it's not really important, Helios," Aria reasoned.

"What? Are you kidding me?" Helios asked back with skeptic look, "Not important? This is also a body part of someone really important to you, isn't it?"

Aria gaped as she got the point. The long time fight had made the girl took things for granted. She forgot where the metallic part of her came from. Her body was also Arianna's body.

"Here," Helios handed Aria the arm back, "Make sure you don't just toss this kind of thing away anymore."

"...Yeah," Aria smiled as she took her arm back and embraced it, "You're right. Thank you."

* * *

The Autobot team was gathering on the US military base for a speech.

"On behalf of the President and Joint Chiefs, I thank you all for your selfless heroism in defense of this planet," Fowler gave his speech, "I am only sorry that the world can't yet know of your undying dedications. Because I, for one, all my light, my liberty, and my future."

"Sir, I'm honored to relinquish command of the Autobots to you," said Ultra Magnus.

"Welcome to Earth, Ultra Magnus. And to team Prime," said Optimus.

"Okay, someone's gotta to say it," Miko walked forward, "Optimus 2.0 is rad! Imagine what the Forge can do for your body," Miko referred to Ratchet.

"Pfft, well," Ratchet replied, "Is it true that the Forge has been drained of its power? Then any hope of rebuilding the Omega Lock has been truly lost."

"I...did what I felt was right," Smokescreen sighed.

"And your instincts once have again proven to be quite sound," Ratchet responded.

"Ratchet's right," Aria replied, "Thank you, Smokescreen. Because of you, all of us can be here, without anyone missing."

Even if the chance to rebuild Cybertron had been lost, at least Team Prime didn't lose any one of their member, their family. And that was a thing worthy enough to be celebrated.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Fifth remained behind at the ruins of Darkmount. It didn't follow the warship to get away, because it didn't want to. The Predacon boss was gone, so the Fifth didn't have any will to stay with the Decepticons. The beast had quite a number of questions inside its head. But at the very least, it got a good source of information. The Fifth opened up its chestplate, revealing a Heart of Wisdom.

* * *

The US military had granted the Autobots a second base in the military complex. While most of the members were out for some celebrating, Ratchet and few others remained behind to set up the place. Ratchet was currently setting up his medical bay, first before anything else.

"Aria, I will work on attaching your arm the moment I finish arranging the tools," Ratchet informed.

"Take it easy, Ratch. We have the whole day," Aria said, while she still held her right arm on left hand.

"Perhaps it will be easier if we use the Heart of Solus Prime," Ratchet said while looking at Helios.

"Sorry doc, but I don't have it with me now," Helios said.

"What do you mean?" asked Ratchet.

"When I was scouting for Aria's arm, that Fifth approached me. He somehow snatched the jewel away from me and escaped," Helios answered casually.

"And you let him escape?" Ultra Magnus joined the conversation, "With such precious cargo?"

Helios didn't answer right away, he stared at Ultra Magnus with weird look. Ultra Magnus still wasn't aware of it, Helios knew him from the past tale told by Heart of Alpha Trion. "That beast was quite swift," he merely answered.

"Besides, that jewel can only be used by the three of us," Aria added, "Not to mention, the Fifth is not so loyal to Megatron. We can tell."

"The Whites affair is outside our domain, including myself," Optimus came in, "I find it best if we just stay out and let them figure it out."

"Yes sir," Ultra Magnus relented.

But Aria knew that Helios didn't tell the real truth of it. "Didn't you just give it away on your own?" she whispered quietly.

"Can't be helped. The Fifth is still all confused by the fact that he's a White," Helios whispered back, "I've packed quite a guidelines inside the Heart. It should help him to figure everything out, if he can."

"Guidelines, don't tell me you include 'that' as well?" asked Aria again.

"Yep," Helios nodded.

"Oh great," Aria sighed, "He won't be happy about it. He will surely scrap us next time we meet."

"By the way, Ultra Magnus, sir," Helios called out.

"What is it, soldier?" asked Magnus.

"If you have the time, I have plenty questions to ask you," Helios said, "About the day you stormed a certain Decepticon base."

* * *

"The Autobots could think that they are winning now," Megatron grumbled, "But we have demolished their domain once! We shall do it again, and we would not give them a chance to lift another finger!"

"Yes, by all means, the doomed Autobots shall pay for their sin!" Starscream added.

"Lord Megatron, this may not be the best time," Shockwave walked forward, "Regarding my son, I have a request."

* * *

**As usual, review please :3. English is surely not my domain :(**


	10. Night of Change

_"Believe you can and you're halfway there"_

* * *

"The Decepticon base in Decagon, yes," Ultra Magnus recollected when Helios asked, "It was the base where the Decepticon youngling named 'Helios' was reported missing."

"So it's true..." Helios commented, although that fact was too obvious, "Do you know anything else about that sparkling? Such as, his creators?"

"I'm afraid not. The only information I had, the sparkling's creator was one of the workers inside the base, that's all," Magnus replied.

Helios didn't say anything else, just walked away. He was slightly disappointed, because even Ultra Magnus couldn't give any useful information. About the mysterious Decepticon, who desperately searched for his son in middle of the fire. Helios was determined to find out, who that Decepticon was.

"Is that all you need?" Magnus asked.

Helios turned around, and he could tell what Ultra Magnus was thinking.

"If you're thinking I'm going to lash out at you for revenge, you're wrong, sir," Helios replied, "It wasn't your fault that he perished, nor that I care about it. I have no tie whatsoever with the former Helios. It's just, I hate it when someone passed away without finishing their business."

Ratchet finally finished with arranging the medical tools. As such, he could begin the operation reattaching Aria's arm. The girl was in deep stasis as the medic reconnected every piece of circuits and cables with delicacy. Optimus watched the surgery with slight worry. Even if he knew Ratchet was the best of it, as a parent, he couldn't help but worry. That was when Ultra Magnus joined in.

"Ratchet, is the damage repairable?" Optimus asked.

"If you are talking about the injury she sustained, it is repairable. She is a White, meaning her wounds will heal faster," Ratchet explained, "This kind of damage is usually not a problem for a Cybertronian. But, she is a part human. It will require some time before this arm can be fully operational. She will have to stay out of commission until she regains her full range of motion."

"Wise decision, old friend," Optimus nodded in agreement.

"Optimus, this girl is...?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"The only legacy Arianna left behind for me when she passed away," Optimus replied with sad tone, "Primus gave me a second chance. I have failed once on my daughter. If I fail on another one, Arianna would not forgive me."

"I only met with Arianna once," Magnus commented as he looked at Aria's appearance, "She truly resembles her."

"They are not the same being," Optimus replied, "Both of my daughters are irreplaceable by any mean."

Ratchet finally finished the surgery, and Aria slowly emerged from stasis. She looked around and smiled weakly to her father. Optimus likewise walked closer to his daughter and held her newly repaired arm. Even if it was reattached, that arm was still numb.

"Post surgery treatment is important. You have to take it easy for this night, Aria," said Ratchet.

"Yes, doc," Aria replied, "Thank you, Ratchet."

"Just doing my job," Ratchet smiled back, "You have no need to stay long period on berth. So Optimus, she's in your care now."

"Thank you, old friend," Optimus said as he picked up Aria and carried her to another room for recovery, "Your own quarter is still in construction. Hopefully you would not mind using my own."

"Do I ever protest for that?" Aria giggled as she snuggled up to Optimus' chest, "My, you've gotten so bulky, father. I'm getting even more smaller compared to you."

"I have never seen Optimus smiling that much, being so emotional," Ultra Magnus whispered to Ratchet.

"He has changed quite a bit, alright, ever since Aria came," Ratchet commented, "So did Aria. That girl had been through quite a mess. She was enslaved by the group of criminals as war machine. She was the one who witnessed Arianna's death, directly in front of her eyes."

Also that night, Fowler had brought a new vehicle for Optimus to the base. It was very large truck with many weaponry on its body. Optimus watched the vehicle came inside with Aria, in her human mode, sitting on his shoulder.

"Prime, what we have here is experimental all terrain expeditionary vehicle. Designed by the finest engineers in our M.A.S.K division," explained Fowler as he got off the vehicle.

"Whoa...!" Aria gaped, "Awesome...!"

"Thank you, Agent Fowler," Optimus said, "This will most certainly do."

And he began scanning it. When he was done, he immediately changed to his new alt mode for a test. Aria was transferred directly to the interior, and she instantly liked it.

"Not bad for human technology, huh?" Fowler commented.

"Absolutely not bad," Aria replied, "You have your new wheels now. So father, wanna go out for a drive?"

"Going outside while you are still recovering is not advisable, my dear. Once you recover completely, we shall go wherever you want," Optimus objected.

"Aw, c'mon. A small tour won't hurt right?" Aria insisted with puppy eyes to the Autobot symbol at steering wheel, "Please, father? Like, pretty please?"

"Very well, just one quick drive around the military base, not any further," Optimus gave in.

"YES!" Aria cheered.

* * *

At the very same night...

It always did wonder to everybody on how an army in small number could do so much damage. The Decepticons lost their almighty Darkmount fortress and control over human world, thanks to the Autobots' effort. But with they knew they were still in upper hand, and the Decepticons would soon move to their next strategy. The next strategy, it was Shockwave's proposal.

Megatron and Starscream were in the bridge ship when they received a call from Knock Out.

"_Uh, Lord Megatron..._" Knock Out sounded nervous, "_I request for you to come to the lab. Immediately, if possible..."_

"Huh, what is it the science group up to this time?" Starscream grumbled.

"Possibly about the research about White Energon Shockwave requested a while ago," Megatron said, as he walked away.

Starscream dutifully followed his leader to the lab, as requested. Little did they knew on what Shockwave was up to this time. After he made stunning discovery in form of the Predacon clones, Megatron was expecting more good news of his favorite engineer. Hopefully it could be their tactical improvement to plaster the Autobots and humankind. And so, as they entered the lab, both of Megatron and Starscream could barely contain their surprise.

There was a large tube inside the lab. And inside the tube was a sparkling, resembling Helios, but red in color. Various cables connected the tube with machinery, and Shockwave was operating it. Knock Out was at Shockwave's side, with nervous look on his face. Starscream was becoming uneasy, as he recognized the sparkling. By now he was sure that the sparkling he killed when escaping from Decagon was indeed Shockwave's son.

"Lord Megatron," Shockwave bowed as he noticed his boss came in.

"Shockwave...what is it that I see before my eyes?" Megatron said.

"This is the result of what I requested a while ago, a permission to conduct throughout research of the rare White Energon," Shockwave replied.

"Yes, but you never said anything about cloning, or getting a permission about it," Starscream snarled.

"A beginning of my experiment, Starscream," Shockwave explained as he walked closer to the tube, "White Energon sample that Knock Out collected from...Helios..." he paused briefly, "...Contains both genetic codes of Cybertronian and those of humans. Even though it was far more complicated than ordinary CNA, I managed to extract the codes and tried to apply it for cloning. The result is this."

"Amazing, to think that the metal part of those half organics could be extracted out..." Megatron said.

"Even without it, the organic part of the genetic codes are unreadable by the cloning mechanism, and the White Energon trait simply could not be replicated by any means, no matter how I changed the formula," said Shockwave.

"Still, it's quite amazing. You managed to create a clone even before the sun rises..." Knock Out commented.

"Cloning ordinary Cybertronian is the basis of my Predacon cloning project. I simply had found a way to speed up the process," Shockwave replied.

It was always so stunning to know of what the one eye Decepticon had discovered so far. Yet, Megatron already knew there was other meaning of Shockwave's work this time.

"Shockwave, even if I want to praise you for your effort, I suspect you have something more to do with your...latest project?" Megatron asked.

Shockwave didn't answer immediately, just stared to Megatron's eyes and then turned away. It confirmed Megatron's thought, however.

"You have sharp mind, my liege. It is like what you said," Shockwave knew lying was useless, "It is mainly about my son."

"Oh, what is this? You once abandoned your sparkling, and you want to reclaim your dead son back?" Megatron questioned.

"It is not my main purpose of doing this," Shockwave said as he turned to stare at his son inside the tube, "I read the file report about the raid in Decagon, and 'missing' sounded too illogical for me. I just want to know, of who did this to him."

"Well, evidently those wretched humans were the responsible ones for your son's poor fate, don't you think so?" Starscream finally spoke.

"Make sense, but it still does not explain one thing. Why did he end up on Earth, while I clearly remembered leaving him at Decepticon triage facility?" Shockwave said again, "I do not like unfinished business. I need to know, what exactly happened to him."

Shockwave stared at the tube once again. The way he stared at his son was rather...odd. Even if he didn't have face, the aura of emotion emanated from his only eye. It was rather weird for the others to see Shockwave was that emotional.

"So...what should we call him? Helios 2.0? Or Helios 1.0, since he is the original one," Knock Out asked.

"That name is already taken. My newly revived son will be called something else..." Shockwave replied, "Of course, he will be yours to command in the future, master."

"Shockwave, although your project is not exactly what I permitted for you to do..." Megatron trailed, "I will let it slide this time, with one more condition."

Megatron's evil smirk was reflected on Shockwave's eye. Meanwhile Starscream was trembling in fear, it was a bad news for him. Once Shockwave knew who was responsible, Starscream would become Shockwave's latest lab rat, for sure. He could just pray that the revived Helios wouldn't remember of who killed him before.

* * *

**Review please :3**


	11. Project Predacon

_"Redemption is not perfection. The redeemed must realize their imperfection."_

* * *

The next day, the new Autobot base was pretty much in full operation. The Autobots now lived alongside the humans in the military base. Things were looking up by the new computer systems, new couch area and of course, new GroundBridge. Ratchet and Raf were working to stabilize their new GroundBridge. Aria, Miko and Jack were watching from another platform.

"New base, new GroundBridge, everything's worked out finally," Miko commented.

"Gotta say, I like our new computer systems better," Aria replied.

"By the way, nice new outfit you have there," Jack commented on Aria's new look.

"Old suit was crisped, so it's time for new design alright," Aria grinned.

Aria was wearing brand new clothes, a white one piece rubber suit with black patches. Contrast to her previous one which was completely black. She also wore a blue sling to keep her right arm still. Ultra Magnus, Helios and Wheeljack were away to find anything salvageable in the former base. And pretty soon, they were ready to come back.

"Return trajectory fluctuations happen stabilized!" Raf shouted out to Ratchet.

"Ultra Magnus, we're all ready to receive," Ratchet radioed.

From the portal, came Ultra Magnus in his new alt mode, a semi truck resembling Optimus' old alt mode, but in blue. He carried an empty steel Energon box on his back, the only thing salvageable from the former base. After Bumblebee picked the box up, he transformed to robot mode. Helios soon followed behind him. The Spanish boy also wore a new suit in mostly white and grey tight legging.

"We didn't find much else in the roam of the former base," reported Magnus to the team.

Then Wheeljack came in with the precious lobbing ball on his hand, "You call this, not much else?" after that, he flung the ball to Bulkhead to begin the game.

But Bulkhead wasn't prepared, so the ball simply bounced off his chest...heading straight to the platform where Aria and Miko were standing.

_BWHAM_

Thankfully, Aria leapt out the way and Jack pulled Miko to safety before the ball squished both girls.

"WHEELJACK!" Ratchet yelled, "You could have caused serious damage!"

"To us!" Miko snarled.

"Be careful! You want me to lose my head now?!" Aria added.

The lobbing ball smashed at Fowler's office door, almost breaking the door and the wall. Everything inside the office including the Agent was thrown to the floor by the smacking force. Fowler slowly gathered himself up and walked to the cracked door.

"What in the Sam Hill...?" Fowler opened his door, to find the lobbing ball completely blocking the entrance, "A little help here...?!"

"What were you thinking, soldier?!" Ultra Magnus scolded.

"I was thinking Bulk could catch that lob," Wheeljack answered casually.

"Not...helping," Aria piped in.

"Allow me to make myself clear. As Optimus Prime's 2nd in Command, I have no intention of tolerating Wrecker behavior," Ultra Magnus stressed his point.

"Some things never change..." Wheeljack replied back with unhappy tone.

The situation suddenly turned tense, between Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack. Everyone stared at the duo with worry at their faces, fearing that it might get worse. Ultra Magnus was known for his strict discipline protocol, when Wheeljack never liked to follow rules. Of course, both of them wouldn't mix that well.

"Jackie..." Bulkhead warned.

"May I remind you that it was Optimus Prime himself who assigned me to command the Wreckers back on Cybertron, and get your loose cannons under control," Magnus continued, "An effective combat begins with discipline. If you won't accept that, fell free to choose the path of least resistance. As you did before."

"If my ship weren't a twisted wrecked prison, I do that, _sir_," Wheeljack snarled, and then he walked away from the group.

Ultra Magnus sighed in defeat before changing the topic, "So, any word from Optimus?"

"He is investigating recent Decepticon activity," said Ratchet.

"Just pray it will be an Energon mine," Aria added.

* * *

Indeed, Optimus was putting his new jetpack into good use. He scouted the area from the sky, and spotted the cave where the Decepticon activity occurred. He landed in front of the cave, whose entrance was too small for the gigantic Prime to enter. So, he transformed to his new truck form, and drove inside the cave.

* * *

"How rad it would be if all of you have jetpacks like Optimus and Helios, or air board like Aria," Miko said excitedly.

"Quite rad, Miko," replied Ratchet, while he was working on Smokescreen's Phase Shifter, "But the Forge has been depleted of its power reductant."

"Now it's only good of pounding off things," said Bulkhead.

"All the White weapons we have here were designed by the Saint herself. It's impossible to replicate them," said Helios.

"Even with that jewel?" Miko asked.

"I have to tell you, even Solus Prime's Heart energy is not unlimited," Helios said, "So are the other Hearts whose Primes had passed away. Because by now, all of them are in need for recharge due to low energy."

"Recharge? Why do you just tell us now?" asked Miko, "How can you recharge it?"

"Vector Sigma, back on Cybertron," said Aria, "Feel any better now?"

All the Team merely exchanged hopeless looks to each other. That was when a sport car in blue paint job and yellow racing stripes drove inside the base and stopped in front of them. They had never seen the car in such paint job. However, by one look, it was easy to guess who was it.

"Smokescreen?" asked Arcee.

Smokescreen immediately transformed to robot mode, showing his new paint job and disappointed look.

"Aww, what gave me away?" he asked.

"Because nobody ever define you 'low profile'," Aria answered with a chuckle, "What's the matter that look?"

"C'mon, robots in disguise, right?" Smokescreen tried to reason.

"Where'd you been, soldier?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"Scanning new war paint. Thought it would be proactive to follow Optimus' lead, and Bumblebee's, or maybe Aria and Helios," Smokescreen pointed to Bumblebee, Aria, and Helios who also had new look.

"Now you can look your best while stacking those empty cubes," Ultra Magnus assigned with little interest in Smokescreen's new look.

"Yes sir..." disappointed, Smokescreen merely walked away, and grumbled, "I was nearly a Prime but somehow I'm still a rookie..."

"What was that about a Prime?" Ratchet asked.

"Uh...time. Time to stop...acting like a rookie," Smokescreen lied.

Ratchet shrugged the matter off, when Arcee had other things in her mind. She remembered on how Aria and Smokescreen defied orders and returned to base. She felt a pang of guilt because she had no courage to do so herself.

"Smokescreen and Aria were the only ones who went back. Weren't it for them, Optimus might not be with us today..." Arcee sadly noted.

"Arcee, we were under the strictest of orders. The three of you had your human partners to protect," Ratchet said, "But, we are fortunate that Smokescreen is inexperienced enough not to follow protocol. And Aria is just too stubborn to let her father being in danger all by himself."

Smokescreen tried to lift two cubes at the same time. However, the top cube slipped away from his hands. Aria transformed and caught that cube with her functional left hand. In Autobot mode, Ratchet had installed an arm brace on her right arm. But, it was still not really functional.

"Need a hand?" asked Aria.

"Uh, no thanks, I can do it myself," Smokescreen reassured.

"It's alright. You know I'm grounded from field duty until my right arm is fully operational. I still can work even with one arm," Aria said as she stacked the cubes, "Rather boring being indoor at all times."

"Yeah I feel for you," Smokescreen chuckled. But then his face turned gloomy again, and he let out a long sigh. Aria eventually noticed it.

"What's wrong? Are you disappointed for not becoming a Prime?" Aria asked.

"Not really, it's just...wait...!"Smokescreen dropped the cube in shock, "...What...?! Optimus told you that?"

"No, he didn't tell me anything," Aria said.

"Was my voice that loud?" asked Smokescreen again.

"Not that either. When my father...died, his Heart sent a telepathy message to me and Helios, requesting a new Heart for a new Prime. But as father came back to life, that request was aborted," Aria explained as she lifted another cube, "A standard protocol for every White. Though, a new Prime is pretty rare now and then."

"Oh I see. Wait, was that mean...I am really worthy to be a Prime?" Smokescreen asked with his spark beating in curiosity.

Aria didn't answer immediately, "...Well, the one to make the decision is only the Matrix. Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you."

* * *

Back on the cave, a group of Insection led by Bombshock were digging out something using drills. But they weren't digging out Energon, they were in mission to find something else.

"There! I can see it!" Bombshock said as he finally found it.

It was a skull bone. Bombshock was about to grab it, when they heard a voice of Optimus.

"Abandon the excavation!" ordered Optimus, "NOW!"

Optimus kicked his gear and drove forward. So did the Insecticons.

"Attack!" Bombshock ordered.

Five Insecticons charged toward Optimus. Optimus fired out three missiles and they all scored direct hit. Two more came forward, one bug tried to shoot Optimus. The Prime ran over the first bug, punched over the second and dragging it across the cave ceiling. And with a shot of Optimus' cannon, the Insecticon was over. Even so, all of them provided quite distraction for Bombshock to grab the bone. He only managed to crack a horn piece of it, but Optimus was getting closer. Pressed by time, Bombshock transformed and flew away with the piece of bone.

Optimus failed to catch the runaway Insecticon, but he discovered what the Decepticon had been searching. And he couldn't believe of what he had found.

* * *

Optimus returned back to base through GroundBridge with the skull on his hands.

"Father!" Aria greeted.

"Optimus, did you find Energon?" asked Ratchet.

"No," Optimus replied, "But I did uncover this."

He put the skull on the table so everybody could see it.

"It cannot be..." Ratchet gasped in disbelief.

"Be what?" asked Jack.

"The ancient remains...of a Predacon," said Optimus.

"So...there's more besides those two?" Aria asked.

"Though it remains unclear why such a skull would be found on your planet," Ratchet added, "Its presence reveals all too much about the two Predacons which Megatron recently sent in pursuit of us."

"You mean those dragon-bobs we put on ice and plugged Megatron's cannonball with?" Miko asked.

"Except that Predacons had been extinct since...well..." Ratchet tried to recollect everything he had learnt from his past time.

"Since before most life began on Cybertron," Smokescreen completed.

"They're like Earth's dinosaurs," Raf summed up.

"Which means for you guys, running into one would be like us meeting a T-rex," Jack added.

"Except that T-rex didn't breathe out flames, did it?" Aria dryly commented.

"So then what were Dinobots?" asked Miko.

"Totally different," Bulkhead replied.

"With Megatron seeming new interest in excavation of prehistoric skeleton, and a certain scientist back among the Decepticon ranks..." Ratchet trailed.

"It would stand to reason that Shockwave cloned the beasts from one such find," Optimus completed.

"And our Lady Saint saw one of them as fit to be filled with White Energon," Aria added.

"And Megatron's now looking to clone another," Magnus added.

"What makes you think buckethead will stop at just one?" asked Wheeljack.

"We could have beast war on our hands," said Bulkhead.

"And if Shockwave only requires a single strand of CNA from which to clone a beast..." Ratchet trailed.

"He already possesses what he needs to engender this one," said Optimus, "Autobots, we must become Beast Hunters."

"One thing still doesn't follow," Smokescreen pointed out, "Predacons went extinct on Cybertron. So what were the bones doing here?"

* * *

That question, only the Decepticons knew. Shockwave was in middle of examining the bone piece the Insecticon had brought home.

"On Earth?!" Starscream also asked in disbelief, "I mean, isn't it just a little preposterous?"

"They are not the remains of Predacons, Starscream. But rather, the remains of Predacon clones," Megatron revealed. "For you see, our recent Autobot hunters wasn't the first bestial super soldier Shockwave ever attempted to breed from prehistoric matters. During the war for Cybertron, I sanctioned the dispatch of small army of these Preda-clones to Earth. To unleash the beast on unwilling Autobot forces stationed here. Once they accomplished their mission, the surviving Predacon held settle on this very world, for ages to come. Guarding the Energon reserves they had managed to secure, while awaiting my arrival. Of course our reunion was much delayed, it would seem we lost the beast to the ravages of time."

"But not their endomatter," said Shockwave, "From which I logically am able to extract their CNA..."

"Pffft, another scavenger hunt?" Starscream grumbled, "How logical would it really be to locate all the dusty remains of your former pets?"

"You are not suggesting that I would send my creations to a distant planet without first having them microchipped?" Shockwave stated.

Starscream was left speechless, "Well, I-well, I was. But seriously, you did?"

* * *

Back on Autobot base, to give the kids better explanation of the Predacons, Ratchet showed them the ancient documents featuring the Predacons' images.

"From our historical text," said Ratchet.

"But those are metal versions of creatures from our Greek mythology and many of literature," said Jack.

"Not dinosaurs," Raf added.

"It would stand to reason that Predacons did indeed walk upon this Earth in ancient times," explained the Prime, "As they seemed to be the basis of much humankind's folklore. Illustrating once again that the past of Earth and Cybertron are in-restrictedly linked."

"Told you the Greeks weren't really lying about the dragon and beast stuffs," said Aria to the kids, "They did exist."

Night time came, the three kids were staying at the Autobot base while Helios returned back to his own lab. The trio already fell asleep on the couch. Aria merely smiled looking at their sleeping face. She was staying late to retrain her right hand with a hand gripper. Even if her muscles were metal-based, the work out eventually wore her hand out.

"Aria, you should not push your body over the limit," Optimus advised, "Your hand still needs time."

"I will be alright, father. I know my limit," Aria replied with a smile.

Optimus didn't say anything more. He was worried because Aria was typical hardworker. Then again, he knew that Aria wasn't stupid enough to damage her body on her own. Ratchet was also staying up late, working with the computer as usual. This time, he resumed a dormant project.

"Synthetic Energon?" asked Optimus as he walked closer to the medic.

"Indeed. I am concerned that without access to any Energon reserve since our base was destroyed, our ability to deal with impending crisis will be severely hampered," Ratchet replied.

"A wise decision, old friend," commented Optimus.

"Just please, manage your expectation. I am working with even more rudimentary hardware than before," Ratchet pointed to bunches of computers, screens, speakers, any kind of human-based technology. Those were the only ones Ratchet could get his hand to, yet obviously it wasn't enough.

"Prime, satellites surveillances picked up two signs of Decepticon activity!" Fowler notified, immediately gathering attention from everybody, "One near oil field outside El Passo, the other near Hibberty bluffs in Scotland. So don't forget to pack your kilts."

"We must divide our resources. Ratchet, contact Helios. Ultra Magnus, lead the Wreckers to the bluffs," Optimus instructed.

"Yes, Optimus," Magnus replied dutifully. But then, he walked closer to Optimus and asked quietly, "Um, what's a kilt?" (XDDD)

Aria was having hard time containing her laugh, while Optimus was at loss what to say. He knew what 'kilt' is, but explaining it to the newly-arrived Ultra Magnus would take too much time and trouble.

"Agent Fowler can at times be oblique. I find it best to simply nod and mobilize," Optimus simply said, ending the conversation.

"Bulkhead, Wheeljack, let's roll!" Ultra Magnus commanded.

Both of the Wreckers followed, but Wheeljack let out a long sigh. Optimus and Ultra Magnus walked closer to the depowered Forge of Solus Prime. Even if it ran out of energy, the Forge still had one more good use. And, the Autobots had to use everything in their arsenal to win against Decepticon.

"Optimus, I know there are many emotions tied to the Forge," Magnus said.

"This is no time to stand on ceremony," said Optimus.

With that, Ultra Magnus picked up the heavy Forge and admired it. He was quite proud to be the one who held it, the relic of Prime.

"I would be honored to put this to some practical use," Magnus commented.

"Solus Prime really loved that hammer, and she still is," Aria walked in, "So Commander, this is a request. Take a good care of it."

"Will do," Ultra Magnus replied with a nod.

As Ultra Magnus' unit dispatched, Helios came to the base by GroundBridge.

"Prime, I hope I'm not making you waiting," Helios politely greeted.

"Hey there, sunny boy. We're tag team," Smokescreen greeted, but Helios ignored him.

"What is our assignment?" Helios asked, ready for the mission.

Optimus was taking Bumblebee, Helios, and Smokescreen with him to the oil field. Aria wished her father a good luck as they departed through the GroundBridge.

"He's still so antisocial to this day, that boy," Arcee noted.

"Helios? That's not the case, Miss Arcee. He just doesn't want to be so open with everybody else, including me," said Aria, "And, I have to remind you that he is not a boy. He's 24 years old, an adult in human terms, albeit trapped in 14 years old body."

"I know. But I can't help to worry about his quiet behavior," Arcee said, "As if he isn't enjoying life."

"Can't be helped. I know what he had been through. I also did, once," Aria sighed, "But compared to him, I'm still luckier. He had enjoyed quite a human life, which wasn't so nice. He concluded himself being unfit to be in that Kurt family, ran away to find some comfort, only to wake up 10 years later with extreme change. I can see that he's trying his best to keep living, but not trying to fit in this different side of world. He simply doesn't want to."

* * *

Optimus' units drove out of the portal to the highway in Texas. After confirming there wasn't any human nearby, they transformed to robot mode.

"Helios, you are with me. We will search this quadrant," said Optimus.

"Yes sir," Helios nodded.

Both of them deployed their jetpacks and flew over the different side of the highway. Smokescreen and Bumblebee transformed and raced to patrol at the other area. With their flight ability, Optimus and Helios could cover much wider ground. No bogeys should escape their sight.

"Optimus, this might not be the right time, but I want to ask you something," Helios said, "This is about the Fifth. Even if I know he is not loyal to Megatron, he is with the Decepticon now. And in our eyes, he seems...brainless. In your opinion, should we let him live...or finish him off?"

"We are in middle of destructive war, my friend. There are many times we have no other choice but to destroy each other," Optimus replied, "I strongly believe that every sentient being deserves second chance. During the Darkmount raid, even though The Fifth had the strength it needed to attack me, he chose not to and retreat instead."

"That's the main instinct of all Whites. Never harm a Prime intentionally, " Helios commented.

"Then it would stand to reason that the Fifth still has some goodness inside the spark, to hear the voice of the Saint and even though the Decepticons are in command," Optimus said again, "I find it best if we just give the Fifth a second chance to redeem."

"I...see," Helios murmured.

After that, their flight patrol was much quieter. Optimus noticed on how unsettling Helios was after asking that question. He knew that it had more to do than just killing a fellow White, though. But then again, Whites affair was outside Prime's reach, so Optimus opted to remain quiet.

Not soon after, they could hear a jet engine heading their way. By their sharp optics, they identified it to be a small military jet, red in color. The jet was speeding up to their direction, so Optimus and Helios soon knew that it was after them. They were proven right, as the jet suddenly deployed a pair of wing cannon, and opened fire to them. Quickly, Optimus and Helios flew around to dodge the shots.

"Stand down and identify yourself!" Optimus yelled out, since it was their first time to meet that kind of enemy.

The red jet still pursued them and showered them with red lasers. Helios even resorted to pull out the Fortress Unit 1 shield from his back to protect himself from the fires.

"Sir, looks like you have to make yourself clear!" Helios said.

"Good suggestion, Helios," Optimus also pulled out his gatling gun and returned fire to the jet.

Eventually, the gatling gun fire managed to hit the plane's tail and sent it to uncontrollable spin. Helios took the chance to slam it with his shield. The jet finally smashed to the nearby cliff, having no choice but to transform to robot mode. By that time, Optimus and Helios could see the newcomer's face, and Helios almost couldn't believe himself.

The jet was the former Helios, whose body was integrated into Adrian Kurt's body. Because of that, both boys bore similar look, except for the former one had red dominant color.

"I know him..." Helios/Adrian said, making Optimus looked at him in surprise, "He is supposed not to be alive. He is the one whom I take the name 'Helios' from..."

"You also took my body, my old body," the red youngling said, "Helios, that's right, it was my name before."

"...Before?" Adrian asked, still in shock.

"_He_ created me out of you, who now owns the right over my old body. You have to know I'm still all the same, even if in new body, and new name, see?" he said, "_**Sol**, _that's what they call me now."

"Sol..." Helios repeated it. He landed on the cliff to have better look at his almost identical another one.

Helios never imagined it would happen. He never imagined to meet him, the one who previously owned his metal body. Alive, nonetheless. Simply because he never thought it was possible, but then again, Cybertronian more advanced technology seemed to make everything possible. Helios was still in doubt that 'Sol' in front of him was the same former Helios.

"Oh, your face tells me that you don't believe me," Sol spoke out, with much of easy-going manner, "I also can't believe that the native species of this planet used my former body as their toys. Well, can't say I knew what happened after I entered that escape pod. Because I died after being thrown out of that ship."

That alone confirmed Helios' thought, "So...you indeed once were...him?"

"Yes, I _am_ him," Sol said with a sinister look.

"Sol, my name is Optimus Prime. I request your attention for merely a moment," Optimus introduced himself, and asked, "Are you with the Decepticons? What are you doing here?"

"Yes, since I am the son of a Decepticon," Sol replied, "We're looking for a bone. Although, I was assigned here for a guard duty, while he and the troops dig out the bone at the other side. That's right, I'm still on duty."

Sol deployed both of his arm cannons and aimed it to Helios. It was clear that the red boy wanted some brawl with the vermillion boy. Optimus attempted to meddle in, but Helios stopped him.

"Prime, this is between me and him. You go and continue the mission," the White ex-Decepticon cut in, "Sol, isn't it? I have a question for you."

Uninterested, Sol just charged toward Helios with cannons blazing, and the other one defended himself with the golden shield. Optimus knew that he shouldn't interrupt them, and flew away to continue scouting.

"Come on, show me what my body is able to do, and make me proud," Sol taunted with a smirk.

"Your former body is now mine. Just consider you never own it," Helios replied back.

Helios knew that it would take more than just words to make him speak. Even so, he was determined not to lose against the red part of him.

* * *

**As usual read and review :3**


	12. Project Son

_"Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead"_

* * *

At the very same time on the other side of the oil field...

Bumblebee and Smokescreen arrived at the oil derrick field. They transformed, deployed their cannons, and proceeded forward with extreme caution. Who knows where the Decepticons were hiding for sudden ambush? The only sound in the area was the oil derricks doing their jobs. The sand field there was covered with tire tracks. During the silence, one thing that bothered Smokescreen so much eventually made him to ask.

"Hey Bee," he called, "Have you ever thought...you wanna be a Prime?"

_What? Now's not the right time to talk about that, _replied Bumblebee.

"Not now, someday," Smokescreen added.

_I just want to be a warrior, not more._

"Warrior. You and me both," Smokescreen replied, then asked more, "But I've seen you in action. Optimus knew you can scrap the best of 'em. Why won't he just promote you from scout already?"

_It's my choice._

"Your choice. So why wait?" asked the blue soldier again.

_We're not on Cybertron_, replied Bumblebee again.

"...Guess it would be more meaningful to graduate back home, on Cybertron..." Smokescreen noted with understanding smile, "You one patience guy. I should take a cue."

The warm conversation was interrupted by the sound of drilling, indicating they were close to the enemy. Bumblebee motioned Smokescreen to take cover behind a pile of crates. They watched the Decepticon troops were digging out of the ground using the drills. Swiftly and quietly, Bumblebee and Smokescreen moved from their position to another. But a group of Vehicons on top of oil storage wasn't being unnoticed by them.

As the drones from above opened fire to them, Bumblebee and Smokescreen jumped and took cover on different sides. They began shooting back at the drones above, but there were much more on the ground below. Two drones were approaching fast to the oil tower where Smokescreen was taking cover. Smokescreen ran away from the tower, and he used one of the oil derrick to launch a surprise attack. He used the derrick to jump at one drone, throwing that drone to another one crashing straight to below another derrick. Smokescreen let the derrick finish the job hammering the drone's face with full force.

Bumblebee was proven to be more than just scout as he dispatched multiple drones with fierce easily. As he finished scrapping three Vehicons, he sensed someone behind him so he deployed his cannons in reflex. Turned out, it was just Smokescreen, standing behind Bumblebee with his hands up.

"Like I said, you have nice chops for a scout," commented Smokescreen.

Their victory moment didn't last long, because not soon afterward Shockwave was coming into the scene. He was holding a jawbone on his right hand. As Bumblebee and Smokescreen raised their guard, Shockwave aimed his left cannon and shot them. Both Autobots rolled forward and returned back at the one eye Decepticon. Shockwave attempted to shoot again, but one blue blast redirected his cannon to another direction. Shockwave ended up shooting one oil derrick, making it exploding. The resulting blast and fire eventually ignited other derricks and soon there were series of explosions.

Bumblebee and Smokescreen realized the situation and quickly made their escape. Then one big explosion made them stumbled to the ground

_KAWHOOOMMM_

* * *

The oil explosion could be seen by Sol and Helios who were in middle of brawls miles away. Both of them knew something happened.

"Wow, that's one big fireball, from the digging site, I think," commented Sol.

Helios knew something bad happened, and he had to go to help his Autobot teammates. So, he deployed his jetpack and was about to fly away, until Sol stopped him.

"What's the rush? We haven't finished yet," said Sol with his cannons aimed.

"Abort the competition for mission," said Helios.

"If we abort now, you won't get the answer for your question earlier," reasoned Sol.

That statement made Helios stopped in his track.

"Then, how if you answer now?" Helios asked.

"How if you answer my question first?" Sol asked back, "Why are you so interested about _my _parents?"

Then Sol received a comm from Shockwave.

_"Sol, mission __accomplished but we have Autobots. Rendezvous to the coordinates immediately, we are to retreat._"

Sol merely sighed, and he turned to face Helios, "Yeah, you're right, we have to abort this fight."

He transformed to jet and thrusted his booster as fast as possible. That action took Helios by surprise, but he soon flew and followed Sol. Helios knew that Sol and the Decepticons were about to flee, and he was not going to let that happen.

* * *

"How epic was that?!" Smokescreen exclaimed.

Shockwave transformed into tank, jumped above the Autobots' heads and escaped. Of course, both of them transformed and went after Shockwave. The three of them eventually made their way to the highway, where Shockwave would receive his transport back to the warship. He rotated his cannon 180 degrees and shot at his chasers. Bumblebee and Shockwave rolled around to dodge it, however they were no closer to catch the Decepticon.

That was when Optimus came into view from the sky. Shockwave rotated his cannon, aimed and shot it at the Prime. Optimus gracefully dodged all the shots and returned fire from his own. He shot his left cannon precisely to Shockwave, made the Decepticon scientist rolled on the street until he fell flat on his face, and the jawbone rolled out his hands.

"WOW! And that's why he's a Prime!" Smokescreen exclaimed, "Where's Helios, by the way?"

His question was answered by a red jet plane streaking from the sky and did some somersault as Helios was shooting it from behind. Having enough, Helios resorted to create a spreading force field to take Sol down from the air. It worked, and Sol was slammed to the ground below the highway bridge. Above, Shockwave was gathering himself up, when a GroundBridge portal opened and Soundwave flew from the portal in his jet mode.

"Soundwave..." Smokescreen muttered when Soundwave flew past their heads and began shooting. With Soundwave in play, Shockwave ran to collect the bone and was about to escape to the portal but the Autobots were still on his tail. Immediately, Bumblebee transformed and kicked Shockwave from behind. As Shockwave rolled upward, Smokescreen finished the job by stomping on Shockwave's head. Bumblebee noticed the bone on Shockwave's hand, so he moved forward and tried to grab it out. Shockwave retaliated by punching him with his cannon arm. Smokescreen was about to make the same attempt with his cannon blazing, and Shockwave blasted him on the chest. It wouldn't be easy to grab the bone from him.

Below the bridge...

"Using the force field to strike down a flying enemy? You Whites are so lucky with that kind of cheap trick," said Sol as he was standing up.

"It's a cheating move alright, that's why I don't use it often," Helios said when he landed in front of Sol, and posed a fighting position.

"Weren't it you who wanted to abort the fight just before?" Sol asked.

"And it was you who said this fight is too good to be stopped now," Helios replied, "You haven't answered my question."

Both of the boys began their fight again. In the sky, Soundwave was hunting Optimus, preventing him from attacking Shockwave who was holding the bone. He had deployed Laserbeak for backup. Optimus knew he had to finish Soundwave somehow. Shockwave was a tough fighter, the chance of him winning against Bumblebee and Smokescreen double was 60:40.

"Enough," Optimus finally said.

The Prime pulled out his gatling gun and fired it at Soundwave. It managed to hit Soundwave's wing a bit, but a retaliation shot from Soundwave made Optimus lost his altitude. Laserbeak took the opportunity to land at Optimus' back, and electrocuted him. The jetpack was shorted out, Optimus crashed to the bridge's pillar, then to the cliff, and finally rolled down on the ground.

"Optimus!" Helios cried out when he was wrestling with Sol.

Soundwave transformed and landed on the cliff platform. He watched as Optimus gathered himself up, at least Optimus wouldn't be able to bother the bone for a while.

Helios reviewed the situation, and he knew it wasn't good. The bone was the priority, so he had to act fast. Between all of them, Sol was the easiest one to finish, at least from Helios' point of view.

"You want me to answer your question first? Fine," Helios said after he punched Sol's face, "I really want to know who your father is, because I have something to tell him. If he's still alive, that is."

That statement made Sol stopped in his track, and looked at Helios with weird look.

"So tell me, is your father still alive? If so, who and where is he now?" Helios added more.

Sol didn't answer immediately. His eyes trailed off to the highway.

Shockwave was still brawling with the two youngsters. He flung Bumblebee from his back, and was about to shoot him straight to the spark. Smokescreen interrupted by pulling his head cable, so Shockwave threw him to the side rail. Shockwave was charging at Smokescreen again, but Smokescreen immediately activated his Phase Shifter. Because of that, Shockwave's punch phased through him, Smokescreen used the chance to jump and grab the bone. He tried to pull the bone, Bumblebee also came to offer help. The bone tug of war was going rather intense, and the bone eventually snapped out of Shockwave's hand. The Autobots were holding all the piece, but a small part slipped out and fell off the bridge.

The ones below the bridge saw it, including Optimus. Immediately, he rebooted his jetpack and flew upward hurriedly with hand stretched. Soundwave noticed it, and formed a plan. A second later, before Optimus could grab the bone, Soundwave opened a GroundBridge portal, transporting the bone straight to Megatron's hand instead.

"NO...!" Optimus whispered when the portal closed and the bone was gone.

"We have all we need," confirmed Shockwave.

With that, Laserbeak was back to its master's chest, and Soundwave transformed to escape.

"Oh geez, looks like it's time to go," Sol moaned.

"Wait!" Helios cried out.

Sol turned around and faced Helios before he left, "You want to know who my father is? He's right there, the very same one who extracted my CNA out of your genetics, and revived me. Oh, he's also the one who created the Predacons with pretty much same way."

Helios tried to translate Sol's words, the one who cloned the Predacons was Shockwave. Sol was the product of cloning too, meaning...

"...What...?!" Helios gasped in shock as he put two into two.

Sol used the distraction to quickly transformed and flew up to the bridge. He transformed to bipedal mode in front of Bumblebee and Smokescreen to give them mischief grin.

"See ya," he said as he ran to the portal, following his father.

Bumblebee and Smokescreen tried to shoot Soundwave, but too bad he disappeared as well, with the bone. Optimus and Helios landed on the bridge, the Autobot team was slightly disappointed with the result they got. Even if they got larger pieces of the bone, Shockwave didn't need the whole of it to make clones.

"A single strand of CNA..." Smokescreen commented as he looked at the bone they had. "By the way, who's the cheeky red brat from before? Cons' new recruit? 'Cause I've never seen him before."

_Come to think of it, he looks like Helios..._ Bumblebee commented.

"Yeah, he looks so lot like you, sunny boy," Smokescreen said to Helios.

"Because he's the one who owned my metallic body, and the name 'Helios' before. As you can see, now he has new body, and new name," replied the White boy, "Shockwave cloned him, like the Predacons. Looks like he got my genetic codes from the White Energon sample Knock Out collected from me when I was still under Megatron."

"A terrific sample of the advances in technology owned by the Decepticons," commented Optimus.

"You said it, Optimus. Even so, that brat is covered in red, really reminds me of Knock Out. Is he Knock Out's sparkling?" Smokescreen asked.

"No, Shockwave's sparkling," Helios replied again.

Smokescreen and Bumblebee immediately went into laughter fit, "Ha _ha, _that one-eye freak? Very funny, indeed," said Smokescreen.

"I'm not joking," Helios said with a glare to the young soldiers.

Smokescreen's laugh faded away as he realized Helios was serious. He exchanged confused looks with Bumblebee, which soon turned into horror looks. As soon as they figured it out, they felt like the world has gone crazy. Even Optimus was rather startled by the fact.

"...Really?" Smokescreen asked carefully. Helios merely answered with a firm nod.

* * *

On Nemesis, Shockwave was scanning the bone piece while Sol watched from the corner of the lab.

"Dad," he called, "I've told him. Is that okay?"

Shockwave just looked at his son for a second, then turned back to the bone again. Sol was translating it as 'yes'. He was rather disappointed that no matter how things changed, his father was always so antisocial.

"Sol," Shockwave suddenly called.

"What?"

"...No," Shockwave shrugged it off.

That was when Megatron entered the lab.

"Shockwave..." he called, "I understand that you engaged Optimus Prime in the field."

"Only in order to secure the specimen, Lord Megatron," replied Shockwave.

"And you, Sol, engaged Helios who is your another counterpart," Megatron said, "I never expected for your encounter with him would be this soon."

"Me too, Lord Megatron," said Sol, "Rather weird, it was like fighting with your own mirror image."

"Shockwave, I believed you and your son had perished once. I most prized engineer. Your son is already back to live, and I highly doubt that Project Predacon can be completed without you," Megatron noted.

"I shall leave fetching the bone to Starscream and Sol, and confine myself to my laboratory in order to accelerate results," Shockwave suggested.

"Excellent," said Megatron, "For rather I am impatient, to witness my army of beast trample humankind under foot."

"Oh great, I'm now Starscream's foot soldier?" Sol moaned in annoyance.

"I understand you are being uneasy, be separated from your beloved dad, Sol. Be patience, because soon you can witness the destruction of the very race who caused your first demise," said Megatron.

"I should stand corrected there, Lord Megatron," Sol said, "The humans did convert my burnt old body into some ridiculous science project. But they weren't the one who caused my death. They found me already deceased inside escape pod."

Megatron merely raised one eyebrow, when Shockwave spun his head in utter surprise.

"Really? Then, who killed you?" Megatron asked with half-interest.

Sol thought back to the moment after he was brought online.

* * *

Flashback

_Sol was confronting Starscream in secluded area of the Nemesis. _

_"This is my only request to you, Sol," Starscream begged, "Forgive my rude action to you back on that escape ship, and just consider this as only between us."_

_"I can hardly see the reason why I should keep this secret," Sol said, "First of all, you were my murderer. Second, what advantage do I have for keeping that?" _

_"Grrr, you're really like your father," Starscream grumbled, "Obviously, he would dismantle me and use my body as spare parts if he ever knows!" _

_"Let me tell you one thing. When I was born, he treated me as nothing and abandoned me at some triage facility," Sol explained, "What makes you think he even cares of what happened to me?" _

_"He bothers to revive you, of course he will be more than willing to un-revive me," Starscream said, "I may not return the favor very soon. But maybe...someday? Please?" _

_"...Fine," Sol finally agreed, "Who knows when I will need extra help from Megatron's 2nd in Command." _

* * *

Sol knew that if he told the secret, the chance of him using Starscream's help would be messed up.

"...Well, I'm afraid I don't remember," Sol merely replied.

Megatron shrugged it off, but Shockwave was still staring at his son with curious look. Sol knew that keeping that kind of secret probably wasn't so good, especially from his own dad. But he knew that the deal with Starscream would have its use, if not sooner, someday.

* * *

**Hehehe, review please :3**


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